Description
Icon of the Lamentation of the Virgin Mary on Naturally Aged Wood
After the Deposition of the Lord from the cross, the Virgin Mary, holding His lifeless body, mourns for her only son who was sacrificed for the salvation of humanity. As a mother who deeply loved her child, she grieves for the pain and death of her son.
In this rare depiction, the Virgin Mary is shown seated on a rock with numerous cracks, holding Christ’s lifeless body on her lap, supporting His head with one hand, while with the other, she embraces His dead body. Her sorrow is reflected in the furrowing of her brow and the downward curve of her lips. The Theotokos wears a dark green tunic, a red maphorion, and a white veil covering her head, surrounding her face and neck.
Images of the Virgin Mary holding the dead Christ are works of post-Byzantine artists, particularly from Crete, blending Byzantine and Renaissance stylistic and iconographic elements.
The uniqueness of this particular icon lies both in the portrayal of the Virgin Mary with the lifeless body of Jesus in her embrace and in the aged wood on which the serigraphy is placed. This is wood that was used for many years on Mount Athos as part of a monastery cell. When the time came for renovation, it was carefully and skillfully transformed into an icon. The cracks in the old wood bear witness to its years of life on Mount Athos. The back of the icon bears the inscription “Mount Athos.”
As the icon is handmade and the wood processing is done by hand, there may be slight variations in the wood, but not in the depiction.
The icon is available upon request.
Dimensions: 28 x 25 x 2.5 cm
