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The icon is one of Russia's oldest surviving icons, dating from the pre-Mongol invasion period. It was hung at the Kremlin church in Moscow in the 16th century. The icon was possibly brought from Novgorod to the city of Moscow during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, when he pillaged the city and moved its sacred objects to his capital.During the 12th century, the most prominent tier of the iconostasis, a screen of icons in front of the altar, was the Deesis (also known as "Supplication") tier—an image of Christ with his mother surrounded by angels and saints.   It is thought that 'The Angel with Golden Hair was part of that. The huge cheeks and a wide almond-shaped eyes of this icon resemble the frescoes in the Chapel of the Theotokos on the Patmos island in Greece. Otherwise it is close to the style in the murals of the Saviour Church on Nereditsa Hill (1199) in Novgorod, where it is suggested that it was part of the Deesis tier. The artwork is the result of the Byzantine art influence of the city of Novgorod between the late 12th and early 13th centuries, which spread to the city of Moscow around the year 1200.
iconostasis icon Mongol invasion Saviour Church on Nereditsa Hill Moscow Christ fresco Byzantine art Byzantine Deesis Ivan the Terrible tier Kremlin Russia Patmos