The article deals with the poetics of the verbal icons in the stories by N.S. Leskov “The Sealed Angel” (1873) and “On the Edge of the World” (1875) in their correlation with the concept and study of a philosopher of the late XIX - early XX century E.N. Trubetskoy “Speculation in Colours. Sketches of Russian Icon Painting” (1918). It is proved that the integrity of the Russian culture is due to the inextricable link between the icon painting art, Russian literary classics and Russian religious philosophy.