Panagia Glykofilousa – Excavated Lithography – Mount Athos

Description

Excavated Lithography with Panagia Glykofilousa

Like Portaitissa, Glykofiloussa is one of those icons that were saved from iconoclasm and miraculously transported to Athos.
It was the property of Victoria, the pious wife of the iconoclast Simeon, who, in order not to surrender it, threw it into the sea. The icon, floating upright in the waves, reached the arsenal of the Philotheu Monastery, where it was received with great honor and joy by the abbot and the fathers of the Monastery, who had been notified of an apparition of the Virgin.
At the point of the shore, where they deposited the image, a holy water gushed forth. There every year on the Monday of Epiphany there is a litany and consecration.
In this particular image, the hagiographer monk used the lithography technique, creating a work of unique beauty. Specifically, using a lithographed copy of Byzantine art, the monk created this work following the traditional method of artificial aging, as taught in the iconography workshops of the State of Athens. In fact, the artificial aging of the iconography is done by hand, a process to which the monks of Mount Athos give special importance.

Excavated Lithography: Characteristics

The work is crafted entirely by hand, without machinery, in hollowed-out natural wood. It is the work of the iconographer Athanasios, a student of the Athonias Ecclesiastical Academy, who remains faithful to Byzantine art as he was taught on Mount Athos. His works are covered with pure beeswax so that they remain unchanged over time.

In this particular image, the hagiographer monk used the lithography technique, creating a work of unique beauty. Specifically, using a lithographed copy of Byzantine art, the monk created this work following the traditional method of artificial aging, as taught in the iconography workshops of the State of Athens. In fact, the artificial aging of the iconography is done by hand, a process to which the monks of Mount Athos give special importance.

As the image is handmade and the wood processing is done entirely by hand, there may be slight variations in the dimensions of each image.

Theimage is available upon request.

Origin: Mount Athos