The icon was painted for the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, where it stood in a special case near the tsar's pew. Its title comes from the liturgical verse of the Octoechos which is devoted to the martyrs. The icon's subject evokes the Octoechos and other liturgical books extolling the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for true faith and were rewarded with Heavenly bliss. There is also a link to actual historical events, and most experts believe the panel commemorates the Russian conquest of Kazan in 1551. Headed by the Archangel Michael on a winged horse, warriors are marching in three columns from the burning city (apparently, Kazan) towards the Heavenly city (Heavenly Jerusalem) which is standing on a hill, crowned by a tent. The victors are met by Virgin Mary with the infant Christ and soaring angels with halos. On the eve of the Kazan campaign the Metropolitan Makary in his epistle to Sviyazhsk promised the forgiveness of sins to all participants of the expedition and a martyr's glory to all killed for the sake of true faith. In this respect the warriors in the middle row (depicted without nimbuses) can be seen as the conquerors of Kazan on their return to Moscow. The warriors with nimbi, then, are not only the martyrs revered by the Orthodox Church, but also the fallen participants of the campaign, whose sacrifice was considered equal to that of the ancient martyrs. According to the icon's author, they constitute a single Heavenly host. Judging by many historical records, Tsar Ivan the Terrible's Kazan campaign was seen by contemporaries not so much as a military or political undertaking, but rather as the struggle for the spreading of the Orthodox faith. Not surprisingly, this icon shows amid the host, St Constantine the Great in imperial robes, holding a cross. Perhaps the image of Constantine stands as a symbol for Ivan the Terrible himself, regarded as the heir to his cause. The theme of the triumph of the Christian faith is also stressed by the presence here of the first ever Russian saints, Vladimir, Boris and Gleb (they appear almost directly behind Constantine). The multi-figure narrative composition and the unusual shape of the icon have to do with the fact that this is not so much an icon, but a historical allegory praising the victorious Orthodox tsardom and its forces, using traditional iconographic means.
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