PANELS OF THE ICONOSTASIS

The bottom part of the iconostasis consists of carved panels with paintings in the centres. There are four iconographic scenes in oval frames; they are Christ Reads the Bible to Our Lady, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the Good Shepherd and the Walking on Water.

In the 17th century, the panels of the iconostasis of the non-extant Ascension Cathedral were adorned with the images of sibyls (women foretelling the Coming of the Saviour). Those paintings were lost in the early 19th century. The records say that later there were six iconographic scenes in the panels. Two of them were also lost, but the rest four were placed on the iconostasis of the Church of the Twelve Apostles in 1929. There were painted by different painters. The low artistic level allows suggesting that the icons were painted by amateur painters.