Virgin of the Sweet Kiss – Serigraphy on Naturally Aged Wood – Mount Athos

Description

Icon of the Virgin of the Sweet Kiss on Naturally Aged Wood

The monk-artist here depicts one of the sweetest forms of the Virgin Mary, the Sweet Kiss, holding the young Jesus in her arms.

This is a beautiful icon, which received this specific name because the Theotokos is depicted lovingly resting her cheek against the cheek of the young Christ, almost ready to kiss him. According to Orthodox tradition, the Virgin of the Sweet Kiss, like the Portaitissa, is one of the icons that survived the iconoclasm and was miraculously transferred to Mount Athos.

The icon of the Theotokos of the Sweet Kiss originally belonged to Victoria, the wife of a senator, who, in her attempt to prevent it from being handed over, threw it into the sea. The icon, floating upright on the waves, reached the pier of the Monastery of Philotheou. The original icon is double-faced, with the Crucifixion on the reverse side, and is located on a column in the Katholikon.

The naturally aged wood, which had served the monks for decades in a cell on Mount Athos, is now transformed into this unique work of art. After renovation work on the cells of the Athonite Monastic State, the monks keep many pieces of wood, which they process and preserve using the same methods they apply to the wooden iconostasis of the monasteries. In this way, the wood, instead of completing its life cycle, is transformed into the base for collectible icons, which, through the “Athonite Heritage,” carry a small piece of history outside the borders of the Athonite Monastic State.

Since the icon is handmade and the wood is processed by hand, there may be small variations in the wood, but not in the depiction.

The icon is available upon order.

Origin: Mount Athos

Dimensions: 18.5 x 27 x 2 cm