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This icon was probably made for the ‘Old Believers’, a group that broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church around 1666 because they disagreed with reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow. It seems these icons were made for personal devotion and were semi-mass produced. Examples can be found plain, or with one enamel colour as in this example, or up to three different enamel colours. It is not certain how this came into the Abbey's possession, but was recently brought to light again, wrapped in a duster in the bottom of a safe!
The central image is of the Crucifixion: On Christ's left is the spear with which he was pierced and on the right the sponge on a reed with which he was given a drink. At the base of the cross is a skull – the Crucifixion took place at Golgotha – ‘The Place of the Skull’ outside the walls of Jerusalem, which can be seen to the left of Christ's feet.