An old icon of the famous Borisov school was sent abroad under the guise of accessories.
The parcel was sent from Ukraine to the United States. Kyiv customs officers found an ancient icon of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Our Lady of Tikhvin, made by the famous Borysivka iconography tradition, in an international mail shipment. This is reported by Vechirny Kyiv.
The rarity was discovered during customs control of the shipment. The sender from the Ukrainian city of Pokrov declared the shrine as "accessories" worth 1400 hryvnias. Experts from the National Art Museum of Ukraine have determined that the discovered icon has cultural and historical value.
According to the Kyiv customs office, "Our Lady of Tikhvin" was made by masters of the Borysivka iconography tradition of Slobozhanshchyna, which is now considered a historical and cultural phenomenon. Such an image of the Mother of God was a kind of business card of Ukrainian Borysivka (now the Bryansk region of the Russian Federation).
Since items that constitute the National, Historical or cultural heritage of the Ukrainian people are prohibited for shipment in international mail, customs officers drew up an appropriate protocol, and the icon was seized.