Byzantine Icons Wrought in Metal

Abstract

Small icons, some of metal, were made especially by the Old Believers or Stavrophors, a sect that appeared in Russia in the seventieth century. Its representatives split from the Orthodox Church in 1666 over variations to Christian rituals that had been performed for centuries. 1 The event that created the religious sect known as „the Old Believer‟in Russia was triggered by some changes made by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow between 1652 and 1666. Those led to a rupture with the ancient Russian traditions; some of these refer to icons. 2 In the period mentioned, Russian society was split into two camps: the supporters of the reforms, „Nikonians‟, and their opponents, the Old Believers. The „Old Belief‟ was the largest opposition movement to emerge in Russia before 1905.