St Seraphim from Sarov with the Mother of God of Tsarskoe Selo, early 20th century, signed N. Emelianov

depicting in the upper part the icon of the Mother of God of Tsarskoe Selo, also called Serafimo-Ponetaevskaya, represented with the characteristic white veil decorated with gold, pearls and jewels, with both hands raised and looking up in prayer, beneath St Seraphim of Sarov praying with closed eyes in his monk's cell kneeling and with crossed hands before his chest, on the left the princely Saints Boris and Gleb, St George and the Tsarevich St Dmitri, on the right St Nadezhda, the Guardian Angel, St Nicholas and St Olga

The border of the icon has been stripped to the levkas
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The icon painter Nikolai Emelianov, one of the official court painters together with Gurianov, Chirikov and Dikariev, is mainly known for the icons he painted for the Imperial family between 1909 and 1917. The Emperor Nicholas II chose Emelianov and Dikariev to paint the icons in the17^th century style for the iconostasis of the new Imperial Feodorovski Sobor at Tsarskoye Selo. Signed icons by Emelianov are kept in the Hermitage in St Petersburg.

 

The prototype of the Mother of God of Tsarksoe Selo came from the Serafim-Ponetaevsky Monastery on the grounds of Tsarskoe Selo. It was placed in the private chapel of the Imperial family in the Feodorovski Sobor, where the relics of St Seraphim from Sarov were kept in the private Imperial chapel underneath the church. His relics were transferred to this private chapel as Empress Alexandra was convinced that her son Aleksei was born thanks to the interference of St Seraphim. At the instigation of Emperor Nicholas II, Seraphim was canonized on 19 July 1903.