Descent to Hell (Apocryphic legend)

“Descent to Hell” is an article by the famous Russian writer Nikolai Semenovich Leskov (1831–1895), first published in 1894 in the “St. Petersburg newspaper” and telling about the origins of Russian icon -painting creativity. Analyzing the plot of the icon “Sunday with deeds”, the writer establishes that it is due to the contents of the apocryphal gospel from Nicodemus - a unique early Christian source. Pharisee Nicodemus is known as a secret follower of Jesus (in 3: 1–15) The Gospel of Nicodemus is a unique early Christian apocryphal source of the 4th century. It consists of two parts - Acts of Pilate and Descent to Hell. The Gospel of Nicodemus describes, among other things, the descent of Jesus in Hell, the crushing of his gate and the outcome of the hellish depths of all the Old Testament righteous, including the ancestors of mankind Adam and Eve