Russia: Orthodox Christian icon showing St Christopher with a dog's head with the martyr Sophia and her three daughters Faith, Hope and Love. The two border saints are Catherine and Martha. Christ blesses from the clouds above. c. 17th - 18th century

Prayer icons representing St Christopher, the dog-headed (Christopher Kynokephalos in Greek, Pesnoglavets in Russian) were forbidden by the Holy Synod in 1722, but this seems only to have increased their popularity among the 'Old Believers'.

The Byzantine depiction of St. Christopher as dog-headed may have resulted from the misinterpretation of the Latin term Cananeus (Canaanite) to read canineus (canine).

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