The first thing that strikes a viewer who looks at this icon is its unusual decorative character and the color of Christ's hair, even more highlighted with gold leaf than the hair of the Archangel described above. Since the icon has been badly damaged, we can only imagine the astonishing richnes and power of the image when it was completed. On the dark emerald-green color of the background and the blue-green color of the arms of the cross, the face of Christ stands out, encased in his flowing golden hair, and complimented by his purple mantle adorned with gold medallions and by his red tunic with a gold embroidered hem. At the same time, the image as a whole is not too distracting and holds together because the painter skillfully repeats the gold medallion motif. He uses four large medallions, placed between the arms of the cross in Christ's halo, for the necessary inscriptions, and a pattern consisting of four small and one larger medallion in the middle, at the ends of the cross' arms. Originally, a decorative inscription ran along the border of the icon; today only small fragments of it survive. In contrast to this rich background, the face of Christ is simple, rendered with a minimum of strong highlights. One is immediately drawn to Christ's eyes, seated deeply in the shadow. We can see similar shadows in the icon of The Virgin Orans. Because there are many more affinities between those two icons (for instance, the shapes of the noses and mouths, the general refined character of both works) , some scholars attribute both of these icons to the Rostov-Suzdal or Vladimir-Suzdal school  [K.T. and A.B.].