Reliquary of Princess Maria with the Ascension The icon was one of the oldest reliquaries of the Moscovite Grand-Ducal house. The lady who ordered and owned the reliquary, Princess Maria, belonged to the Suzdal-Nizhni Novgorod princely family.
The 31 holy fragments in the shrine: Marian articles gi first, the place which traditionally belonged to the most cherished Passions relics, a large number of women's relics, an unique group of fragments of holy trees, and articles related ti the Old Testament. Many relics are extremely rare for 11th-16th C. Russian reliquaries, e. g., a part of the road of Moses, fragments of the tree of Eden and of the olive, the seals of the sepulchre, relics of the apostles Paul and Bartholomew, of the forty martyrs of Sabasta, and of St. Anastasia. 1409/1410. Suzdal-Nizhni Novgorod principality |