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500 Roubles Icon of Smolensk
| Issuer | National Bank of the Republic of Belarus |
|---|---|
| Year | 2013 |
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| Reference(s) | KM#B267 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Cyrillic |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a magnificent high-relief depiction of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God (Hodegetria), showing the Virgin Mary in three-quarter view holding the Christ Child on her left arm. The Virgin and Child are rendered in finely detailed silverwork, their haloes and the icon's ornate riza (revetment) border bearing selectively applied gold plating that creates a striking contrast with the polished silver field. Abbreviated Cyrillic inscriptions identifying the figures appear in the upper corners of the icon field in the Byzantine tradition. The entire composition is framed by an elaborate interlaced border, and the word СМАЛЕНСКАЯ is inscribed in relief along the lower edge, identifying the icon. |
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| Additional information |
Smolensk's Vladimir Icon has one of the more tangled custody histories in Orthodox Christianity — venerated in Byzantium before arriving in Rus in the 11th century, fought over by Moscow and Smolensk for decades, and reportedly carried before Russian forces at Borodino in 1812. Belarus's claim to the iconographic tradition is indirect at best, which makes the National Bank's decision to issue this piece a quietly political one: Minsk asserting cultural kinship with a religious object that now resides across an international border.
At 500 grams of .925 silver, this belongs to the oversized devotional series Belarus produced aggressively throughout the 2010s for the collector and gift market.