Our Lady of Megalocharis – Lithograph – Mount Athos

Description

Lithograph of the Virgin Mary Megalocharis

A beautiful lithograph of the Virgin Mary Megalocharis. According to Christian tradition, the Virgin Mary received the title Megalocharis due to the great grace she received from the Lord to hear the Archangel’s greeting, “Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you.” The most famous depiction of the Virgin with this title is in Tinos. According to religious tradition, the church of Panagia in Tinos was built on the spot where the image of the Theotokos was found after visions were experienced by a nun.

This nun, Pelagia from the Monastery of Kechrovouni, in 1822 saw a vision of the Virgin Mary urging her to find a miraculous icon of hers. It is said that she had the same dream three Sundays in a row before the excavations began, which initially proved unsuccessful. Eventually, the icon was found later in January 1823. The discovery, following the nun’s vision, was considered a great miracle and became linked with the Greek Revolution.

Lithograph: Characteristics
The image of the Virgin Mary Megalocharis has been created using the lithographic technique, which is taught at the iconography workshops of Mount Athos. It 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 crafted this work following the traditional method of artificial aging. The lithographic technique in iconography is essentially a printing technique.

Origin: Mount Athos