This icon was found on the day of the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II, on March 2 (15), 1917 under miraculous circumstances: a woman from a remote village had had a repeated dream in which she had been urged to go to the town of Kolomenskoe (now within the city limits of Moscow) to search for "the large dark icon." In the church of Kolomenskoe she could not recognize any of the icons present there; then, finally, the priest showed her an old icon which had been kept in the basement of the church, and that was it.

The icon depicts the Most Holy Theotokos as a Queen sitting on a throne with the scepter and globe, symbols of the royal authority. It was large (about 3' x 5') and indeed very dark; apparently, it had been out of use for over 100 years, since the invasion of Napoleon.

The appearance of this icon was understood as a sign that the Heavenly Queen has now accepted responsibility for the rate of the Holy Russia, once the land had lost its earthy Monarch. Its veneration was wide spread, until the authorities confiscated the icon. Its whereabouts were unknown, although many similar icons have been painted in commemoration of that event. Recently the original icon has been recovered and placed in the church of Kolomenskoe in Moscow.