The icons in the exhibition, from the Contis collection, depict figures and scenes from the life of Christ and religious history. In Orthodox practice, which Russia adopted in the 10th century, the icons were objects of veneration -- providing a point of contact for communication between the worshipper and the saints or scenes represented.

This exhibition is distinctive because it emphasizes objects used by ordinary people, rather than by the wealthy patrons or institutions that commissioned so much well-known art, explains Rebecca Corrie, the Phillips Professor of Art at Bates and an exhibition organizer.