Dmitry Stelletsky was commissioned to paint the icon frescoes for the St Serge de Radonège church in Paris, the oldest Orthodox theological institute in Western Europe. He completed the work almost single-handedly with only two helpers to grind the paints, and finished the project in 1927 within two years of starting. The church was originally built circa 1850 as a Lutheran Protestant church for the German worker community of Paris, but was purchased in 1924 by the Russian Orthodox community.
The present lot is a study for the icon of Saint Iuliania of Lazarevskoe, which is located in the second row to the right of the iconostasis in the church.