Incredible Greek Orthodox Icon - Constructed of Painted wood / board over which is a thick metal Riza / Revetment covering and protecting the icon. The Riza appears to have been gilded with possible areas of having being silvered. The thick borders of the Riza are heavy with repoussé work, and is pierced in areas to expose elements of the underlying painting / figures. This practice of using rizas originated in Byzantine art.The wood panel is painted in meticulous detail following Greek Orthodox iconography with strong Byzantine features. The painted iconographic images depict in its center Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus holding a scroll representing the Word of God in His left hand, with His right hand forming the Greek Orthodox benediction, which spells out a stylized “IC XC,” representing the words “Jesus Christ” in the Greek. The clothing has colorful stylized geometrical forms found in early Greek Iconographic Images.To each side of Mary & Christ are traditional orthodox figures:Left Side: A male figure in a robe wearing a crown above which is a halo. This figure likely represents the grown Christ; In Greek Iconography is called “The Lord of Glory” or “The Great Hierarch.”Right Side: An Angel is represented as a male figure dressed in robes above which is a halo, and behind which are his wings.The verso of the icon panel shows significant age with insect holes and several old repairs. The panel's back has several layers of old resin based paint and gesso. The riza is attached to the panel with two types of old nails. It appears it was initially made using rectangular iron shanked nails (likely made in the 18th Century), and later was repaired or re-attached using late 18th or early 19th Century Nails (round headed nails).Literature. Even then, the first machines were designed only to speed up production of these traditional nails, the finished product is very similar to its predecessor. It was around the end of the 18th century when the first significantly different nails emerged, the cut nail, so-called because it was formed as a tapered piece cut from a sheet of metal. These retained the four-sided taper of the hand-forged older nails, but had a much more uniform look. The modern round wire nail appeared in the second half of the 19th century, and because it could be made by automated machinery it quickly displaced the cut nail.