The inscription with the name of the saint did not survive, but the iconography – the features of his face and the shape of his beard suggest that this is James the brother of God, the apostle of the seventies, who became the first bishop of Jerusalem who was Joseph’s son from his first marriage and therefore fell to his brother Jesus in flesh.
In Byzantine art is depicted among the honored fathers of the church. As the creator of the first liturgy containing the funeral services, and the author of the message, which speaks of the healing power of prayer, he was revered as a healer from ancient times. Memorial Day – October 23, and also January 4 – among the Seventy Apostles. In Novgorod he was prayed for getting rid of epidemics. . Self-made icons of Jacob of Jerusalem are very rare. Known Novgorod icons, on which he is depicted along with other saints: “Nicolae the Wonderworker, James the Brother of God, Ignatius the God-bearer” of the late fifteenth century. and “James the brother of God, Cosmas and Damian” second quarter of the XVI century.
According to the skill of performance and artistic merit, the icon is a monument of the capital level. It could be created in the best workshops of Moscow or Novgorod in the middle of the 16th century. But the features of the execution of the face allow us to consider that its author was a Novgorod icon painter. The icon is an artistic, historical, cultural, scientific and museum value
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