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Traditional Russian dolls didn’t have a face. A faceless doll was considered inanimate (unavailable for evil spirits), hence harmless for a child. It was meant to bring well-being, health, happiness, and protect from diseases, woe, and evil spirits. The dolls were made without using needles or scissors. The fabrics were not cut, but torn.
Before the child was born, the doll was put in the cradle to protect the baby, and when the baby was born, the doll distracted evil spirits. Mothers gave home-made dolls to their daughters before the marriage as the blessing. The dolls were given to the sons as they went to serve in the army; and husbands as they were going anywhere. Peasants took care of 100 dolls or more. The more dolls brought more happiness.
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Icon painting is a specific system of symbols that became the language of the Church. Dionysius Areopagit stated that icons should have similarity and dissimilarity. The similarity is to make the Saint recognizable and dissimilarity is to show that it is only the allegory, not a mirror reflection. A picture expresses emotions, an icon contains the mind and intuition. A picture shows the mood, an icon shows the state of the personality. A picture shows a story, an icon leads to the infinity. Some people think that icon painters didn’t know the perspective views and the anatomy of the human body. In fact the size shows the rank. For example demons are shown smaller than angels, Christ is bigger than Apostles and so on. 
