Double-sided icons are usually intended to be used in religious processions (litanies). However, the size and weight of this icon suggests that it was rather placed in an iconostasis. The iconography is rather standard. Jesus Christ on the cross is flanked by the Mother of God and John, as well as angels in mourning, on a bright gold background. Christ’s athletic body is associated with Italian prototypes; the nailing of Christ’s feet with only one nail, and the Latin inscriptions, are also derived from Western art. It has been suggested that the icon is the work of a Venetian artist who worked in Sinai.
