Usually, the icon of the Annunciation is located on the Royal Gate, and under it are usually placed four evangelists, who were depicted with their symbols, and sometimes without them. All the sacred images that make up the necessary belonging of the Royal Gate, hay and columns are subject to the same idea: they all relate to the bloodless sacrifice that is made in the altar.
On the royal gates of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour there were placed six sacred icons: the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in two icons (on the right side - the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the left - the Archangel Gabriel), four evangelists (also in two icons), the Savior and the Mother of God.
On the bronze pillars on the sides of the Royal Gate were placed four icons of the Moscow saints - Peter, Alexei, Jonah, and Philip. In the lower tier, to the right of the Royal Gate, was the image of the Lord Almighty, and to the left - the image of the Nativity of Christ. In the middle above the Tsar's Gate was placed the image of the resurrected Christ the Savior in a scarlet chiton and bright shining. Jesus Christ blesses with His right hand and supports the cross with His left hand. The Mother of God, John the Baptist, and the twelve apostles surrounded him.
The second tier of the iconostasis in the temple of Christ the Savior consisted of the Lord's Feast and the Feast of the Theotokos, the third represented the New Testament Church, and the fourth - the half-length images of the forefathers and prophets of the Old Testament Church.
Inside the iconostasis-chapel, above, was depicted all-seeing eye with the inscription "This". The image it is made on medals in memory of the war of 1812, and on its parties - presentation of bread and separately teaching of wine. Beneath them, there was an image of the refraction of bread by two disciples in Emmaus and the appearance of Jesus Christ at the resurrection of Mary Magdalene, and in the corners, there were angels with a disco, a gospel, and across.
Rows of tiers on an iconostasis of a temple of the Christ of the Savior have been cut by deepening with icons, flanked by columns with bases and capitals. The tent, heads, gates, and frames for the icons were gilded with yellowish or greenish gold. The design of the gilding of the iconostasis was changed several times. One of the reasons for this was that the white marble ("heavy") part of the iconostasis was visually detached from the upper gilded ("light") tent, they had to be balanced first.
The iconostasis of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour made an indelible impression on all those who saw it. Gilded was not only nine chapters with crosses and coverings of the protruding parts of the tiers, but gold was also prescribed and the marble itself. The light that fell from the windows of the drum was reflected in the golden background of the wall paintings and the gilded grid. Mixing with the light currents flowing from the choir windows through the gilded balustrade, it reflected on the gold of the iconostasis and turned it into a light-bearing spring.
...During the restoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, experts conducted a number of studies: archival, historical, bibliographic and iconographic. As a result, a number of discoveries were made and the material, which for a long time remained unknown, was revealed. First of all, in the Museum of Geology named after M.V. Lomonosov, the Museum of Geology named after M.V. Lomonosov was opened. The original fragments of the iconostasis were found in the Vernadsky Museum of Geology, which made it possible to specify its typology, design features and color scheme of the whole building: these are columns made of black with veined marble, flanking icons of the iconostasis, columns with capitals made of (bluish-grey marble), framed icons on the cliff, etc.
However, these were only parts of a unique iconostasis. The icons of the long-suffering temple were not blown up by the Bolsheviks together with the cathedral itself. They were stashed away, and then as if they had been presented by I.V. Stalin to Eleanor Roosevelt, the widow of the US president. The lady at the top of the list seemed to have put them up for an art auction in New York City. There they seem to have been bought by the ubiquitous Vatican envoys and found themselves in its vaults, which are strictly limited, and in some cases even closed.
The labyrinths of the Vatican palaces are endless and very tortuous. Their exact location and lists of their treasures are perhaps not even known to the caretakers themselves. Maybe there are also hidden icons from the temple of Christ the Savior?
Many times the leaders of the Moscow Patriarchate hinted to the Catholic fathers that they should have looked for priceless icons in the Vatican collections and returned them to their rightful owners. But for now...