The icon embodies the main episode of the Passion of the Lord – the Crucifixion. Evangelists describe in sufficient detail the suffering and death of the God-man on the cross among the two thieves. But icon painting does not illustrate the tragic events, but generalizes their meaning. Generations of artists created an irreproachable pictorial formula.
Against the background of the symbolic city of Jerusalem is the cross with the Crucified. Crying angels flock to him. On the sides of the cross stand the Mother of God with Mary Magdalene and the apostle John, the beloved disciple of Christ, with the faithful commander-sotnik Longin. Nearby a copy and a cane with a sponge soaked in vinegar, symbols of the suffering of the cross. The cross stands on Calvary – the mountain of skulls.
The symbols of death depicted under the cross remind us of Adam, whose sin is redeemed by the death of Christ.
