The icon painted on wood, the Venerable Nil Stolbenskii shown at full length at left wearing monastic robes indicating the highest level of spiritual excellence known as the Great Schema, in background is the Nilov monastery on Stolobny Island in Lake Seliger, the monastery founded later on the site of his hermitage, with the miraculous appearance of the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, both the saint and icon identified by inscription in the silver, the silver additionally chased to indicate the lake's waters, the silver cover with obscured marks. Dimensions: 4 1/2 x 3 1/4 in. (11.4 x 8.3 cm)The Nilov Monastery was an important pilgrimage site in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries and icons such as this were often acquired at the time of the pilgrim's visit. They are notable for their precise representation of the monastery and take into account new buildings as they were constructed. See Oleg Tarasov, Icon and Devotion: Sacred Spaces in Imperial Russia (London: Reaktion, 2002), pp. 241-242.