I had never heard of it. The Icon Museum and Study Center is just about an hour away in Clinton, MA, with over 900 icons, mostly Russian, plus a few hundred other Eastern Christian works of art. It used to be called the Museum of Russian Icons.
I think this one, which shows events in the life of of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk, enlarges to show significant detail, but the one at the site itself enlarges even more. You need to be prepared for significant detail and regular visitors bring their own magnifying glasses, mostly the kind that you use at a distance. But you could get use out of a glass to lean in close to see dense detail as well. I find it tiring now. It might be best to break it up with visits to the tea room and lunch nearby, and maybe a walk on the town common across the street.
I had no idea that there were so many types of icons. I am used to the Christ Pantocrator and the Virgin and Child expressions and knew there were other common subjects, but I didn't expect the revetments, triptyches, miniatures, wood carvings, and extended panels. There is a tea room with antique samovars and what would otherwise be called a medium-sized collection of Matryoshka dolls. There are activities for children and exhibits showing how icons were and are created. I would have expected to like the oldest examples best, but an exhibit on contemporary iconographer George Kordis captured a lot of my attention.
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