Our Lady of Megalochari – Lithograph – Mount Athos

Description

Lithograph of Our Lady of Megalochari

A lithograph depicting Our Lady of Megalochari. According to Christian tradition, the Virgin Mary received the epithet “Megalochari” because of the Great Grace she received from the Lord to hear the Archangel’s greeting, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you.” The most well-known icon of the Virgin Mary with this epithet is the one in Tinos. According to religious tradition, the church of Our Lady of Tinos was built on the spot where an icon of the Theotokos was found after visions experienced by a nun.

This was the nun Pelagia from the Holy Monastery of Kechrovouni, who in 1822 saw in a vision the Virgin Mary urging her to find a miraculous icon of Her. It is said that she had the same vision for three Sundays before excavation work began, which initially proved fruitless. However, the icon was eventually discovered some time later, in late January of 1823. The discovery of the icon after the nun’s vision was considered a great miracle, which was inevitably connected to the Greek War of Independence.

Lithograph: Features

The image of Our Lady of Megalochari was created using the technique of lithography, which is taught in the iconography workshops of Mount Athos and is also used by many monks to create exceptional works of art. In this particular case, the monk used a lithographed copy of Byzantine art and created the work following the traditional method of artificial aging. Lithography in iconography is essentially a printing technique.

Origin: Mount Athos