Russian Icons

Peirce, a semiotician, wrote about signs (of any sort) as being either symbol, index or icon. How does this relate to Russian icon paintings, such as this one: I saw many such paintings when I was in Russia (Moscow region), where I also had a look at Russian gestures. It appears like the gestures of the figures are very much prescribed for each icon. The blessing with two fingers is most common. But there are many, which I hope in due time to have a better look at. Unfortunately, that's it for now, but feel free to comment...

Tags: gesture, blessing, icon, Russia, art, semiotics