The Cathedral of the Assumption in the Kremlin was the very symbol and center of power where Tsars were to be crowned.
Christ is always at the center of the icon screen, as you can see in this screen from the Moscow Cathedral of the Assumption. A more humanized Christ figure stands over the cathedrals royal doors. The screen, another Russian invention, symbolically marks the border between earth and heaven—between the congregation and the priests celebrating the holy mysteries behind the screen.
Archangel Gabriel is the messenger who announced to Mary that she would bear Jesus and save humanity. This icon was painted by Dionysius, a great artist with a genius for using deep layers of colour to evoke the ethereal.
