The Museum Of Russian Icons will present the acclaimed Hollingsworth collection of Russian metal icons and crosses, which chronicles the entire history of the Russian Orthodox Church from the 11th C. to the 19th C.

The holy objects on view in Sacred Russian Castings are of a kind once readily found in even the humblest homes of Russia, as well as its grand churches and public shrines. The exhibit includes more than 100 sand-cast and enameled metal icons and crosses, some set in painted icon panels.

Metal icons were immensely popular in Russia in past centuries. For Orthodox Russians, icons were relic-like objects directly linked to the spiritual world and to the holy figures they depicted. They were seen as comforters, powerful guardians and helpers that could bring rain, cure diseased cattle, ward off fires and heal physical ailments.

The icons on view in Sacred Russian Castings are part of a collection assembled by Gary Hollingsworth, an art restorer based in Florida who has been collecting religious art for the last 30 years. According to Hollingsworth, “Each icon has a story—a history associated with the particular subject. Many of these original stories have been embellished by miracles associated with praying before the image. Each icon holds hundreds of stories we will never know. Every time a child was born, or there was an illness in the family, a war, or a famine, the family would cluster around the icons, praying and asking for help or giving thanks.”

Sacred Russian Castings chronicles the history of the Russian Church through these sacred objects.

Oct. 15, 2011 - January 7, 2012

Museum Of Russian Icons, 203 Union Street, Clinton, MA 01510 * 978-598-5000 tel