Saints Theodoroi – Aged Lithograph – Mount Athos

Description

Aged Lithograph of Saints Theodoroi
Saints Theodoroi include Saint Theodore the Recruit (Tiron) and Saint Theodore the General (Stratelates).

Saint Theodore the Recruit served in the Roman legion’s recruit division (Tiron) during the reign of Emperors Maximian and Galerius. He refused to participate in pagan sacrifices and openly confessed his Christian faith to his commander. His steadfast refusal to renounce his faith led to his arrest and brutal torture, including being scourged and having his flesh torn with sharp irons. Despite this, he remained unwavering in his faith. Finally, his persecutors cast him into a furnace, where he surrendered his soul to Christ.

Saint Theodore the General was a Roman army officer. When Emperor Licinius learned of his Christian faith, he attempted to convert him. Initially, Theodore was ordered to sacrifice to idols, but he refused. Later, during a grand ceremony, instead of offering sacrifices, Theodore seized the idols, smashed them, and distributed the fragments to the poor to sell. Furious, Licinius ordered his arrest. Despite severe tortures, Theodore did not renounce his faith. Eventually, soldiers crucified him, but when he survived, the emperor commanded his beheading.

Aged Lithograph: Characteristics
This icon was created by a monk iconographer using the lithography technique, resulting in a work of exceptional beauty. Employing a lithographed replica of Byzantine art, the monk completed this piece by following the traditional handcrafted artificial aging process, as taught in the iconography workshops of the Athonite State. The handcrafted aging process is a meticulous practice highly regarded by the monks of Mount Athos.

Origin: Mount Athos