OUR LADY 'IN THEE REJOICETH'

This icon illustrates the words of the hymn to the Theotokos — 'All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace,  the ranks of Angels and the human race...'.

The author of the hymn John of Damascus (the 8th century) is represented on the icon with a scroll in his hands at the foot of the throne, praising the Virgin on behalf of all the righteous, including the Metropolitans of Moscow Peter, Alexius and Iona, depicted in the lower part of the icon. A five-domed temple, symbolizing the New Jerusalem,  significantly resemblances in architecture with the Assumption Cathedral, which by the end of the 15th century became the spiritual centre of the new holy kingdom, the "house of the Blessed Virgin Mary" and the centre of its revered relics, viz the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir and the relics of Moscow saints.