The "Ninnia of Theodora", late 14th-early 15th century

The "Ninnia of Theodora", or the "icons" of August Theodora, wife of the iconoclastic emperor Theophilus, are two icons of Christ Pantocrator (19X25 cm) and the Virgin Mary with the epithet "the Hope of the Despairing" (17X23 cm), which were converted into a diptych. Their inlays have been made using the wire technique. However, they differ significantly from the other inlays of the same technique. Thus, in the icon of Christ the silver wire used is twisted and in that of the Virgin Mary only the depth has been decorated with the wire technique, while in the frame there are compartments with busts of saints rendered in low relief, between which are inserted parallelogram plates with the dedicatory inscription of the inlay. In both icons, the background is decorated with geometric shapes, inside which shoots and tendrils are formed. The hands of the figures and the stone Gospel that Christ is holding are also covered with silver-gilt plates. According to the dedicatory inscription of the icon of the Virgin Mary, the founder of the icon and its investment was Anna Palaeologina Kantakouzene Philanthropine, and therefore the work dates back to the late 14th or early 15th century.