The story goes that Prince Konstantin (d. 1129), son of Sviatoslav II of Kiev, sent his own son Michael to convert the city of Murom to Christianity, but the people there killed the royal missionary. So Konstantin went to Murom himself, carrying an icon of the Mother of God from the Kiev Monastery of the Caves. At the sight, the pagans asked for forgiveness and baptism. The icon remained in Murom until St. Basil (d. 1295) took it to Ryazan, sailing 100 miles down the River Oka on his bishop's mantle. After his death it was placed on his tomb in the Ryazan Cathedral. When the cathedral closed following the Russian Revolution, the original icon disappeared. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the Murom Mother of God on April 25 (April 12 in the old calendar), feast day of St. Basil of Ryazan. The Murom Icon is considered to be of the Tenderness (Eleusa) type, but here the child touches his mother's cheek with his hand, rather than with his own cheek, as in the famous Eleusa of Vladimir. The image shares elements of Directress (Hodegetria) icons, such as Our Lady of Kazan, whose child also holds a scroll. The copy shown here was painted by Russian artist Simon Ushakov in 1677. (Picture from "Реферат: Искусство Москвы 17 века," www.bestreferat.ru/referat-39826.html. Information from "The Lives of the Saints," Orthodox Church in America, www.oca.org/FSlives.asp, and other sources.)