The tradition of painting icons started in Russia following the conversion of Russia into Christianity in 988 AD. One of the teachings of the Russian Orthodox Church says that there is an intercession of saints. Every baptized Russian is given the name of the saint who according to the beliefs of the people follows this person during his whole life. Russian icons are typically paintings on wood, often small, though some of them are hanging in churches and monasteries may be much larger.
Icon painting is a very acclaimed mode of art in today's Russia. That required skilled artists to work on decorating interior walls, iconostasis (central part of the church) as well as multiple icons to hang on the walls of the religious buildings. Many Russian experienced artsits from Kholui, Fedoskino and Palech who were earlier involved and specialized in painting lacquer boxes turn nowdays to making icons.