This paper compares the methods of depicting a human face according to <i>Hermeneia</i>, a post-Byzantine guide to painting, and icons of the 14th-15th centuries from the Deesis Row of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Out of the nine icons in the Deesis only six were painted by Theophanus the Greek himself while the rest were executed by his assistants. The <i>Herminia</i> instructions coincide completely with the technique of the faces in the six icons. It is probable that the <i>Hermeneia Painters' Guide</i> has been finalized as a result of canonization of the techniques of Paleologus painting. This is an indication of the time of origin of the sources of the Athon book. -- AATA