MINSK CUSTOM OFFICERS FIND ANCIENT ICON OF MOTHER OF GOD IN PACKAGE

Photo: belnovosti.by

Pravoslavie.ru – March 2017

Minsk custom officials have discovered an ancient icon of the Theotokos in a package coming from America, reports the Belarus News Service.

The parcel was addressed to a private resident in Minsk. As noted in the Minsk regional customs office, the icon was wrapped in paper and bubble wrap. According to the customs declaration, the package was to contain a simple picture with a frame.

According to preliminary data, the icon is in the style of the Smolensk Mother of God, or the “Hodigitria.” The icon has been dated to the second half of the nineteenth century, painted in the Russian empire.

The given cultural treasure being illegally transported is worth about $4,000. Customs officers have confiscated the icon until a court decision.