Russian Antiques

The Russian antiques market has exploded in value the last few years- especially Russian icons. And of course forgeries come with that territory.

BTW, the best short essay I ever read on icons was Sergei Averinsev's "Visions of the Invisible: The Dual Nature of the Icon" in Gates of Mystery: The Art of Holy Russia.

More on this late Russian scholar, invited by Pope John Paul II to pray with him before the Kazan icon.

Update: A New Times article on a Kazan icon's return from the Vatican.