This small, double-sided icon is known as a tabletka (plural tabletki). Tabletki are like “pages” of the liturgical calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church (the Menologion), in which saints are illustrated in the order of the celebration dates of their feasts. Designed to be portable, tabletki are made of paint and gesso on linen instead of wood. Found almost exclusively in Russia, they were displayed on the feast day of the scene or saint depicted and kept in a drawer for safekeeping the rest of the year.
One side of this tabletka depicts the Mid-Pentecost, also known as “Jesus among the Doctors,” a rare scene almost never illustrated outside of Orthodox Christianity. Observed on the Wednesday following the fourth Sunday after Easter in the Eastern Church, the Mid-Pentecost feast celebrates Christ as teacher. Corresponding to a scene described in the Gospel of John, the icon shows Christ as a beardless youth, holding a scroll and addressing six elderly men. The event is also recounted in Luke 2:46 (King James Version): “It happened that after three days they [his parents] found him in the temple, amidst the doctors, listening to them and asking them questions.” Christ’s dominant placement, centered and situated above his audience, single him out as the authority and give him intellectual weight. He is engaged in discussion with the six elders surrounding him, whose gold hems and shoes reflect their learned stature.
The other side, apparently by the same hand as the first, shows the doubting of Thomas. Again, Christ is given a central position, isolated from and elevated over the eleven remaining apostles. Nearest to Christ in a red robe is the apostle Thomas, who famously refused to believe in Christ’s resurrection without direct evidence. Here, Christ invites Thomas to inspect his wounds, guiding the latter’s hand to his side.
