Saint Phanourios – Antiqued Lithograph – Mount Athos

Description

Antiqued Lithograph of Saint Phanourios

Saint Phanourios is one of the most beloved saints of the Church. He became known when his image was accidentally found in Rhodes in the 14th century AD. Specifically, in that image, Saint Phanourios was depicted as a young soldier, holding a cross and a lit lamp, with the twelve tortures he endured depicted around him.

In these, Saint Phanourios was shown standing among soldiers and being judged by a ruler, being struck with stones on his mouth and head, whipped, wounded with iron claws, imprisoned, and tortured in front of the ruler. He was also depicted as being burned with lit lamps, bound to a rack, surrounded by harmless beasts, crushed by a large stone, holding burning coals, and standing in a furnace of fire, with his arms raised in a posture of prayer.

Antiqued Lithograph: Characteristics

This particular image was created using the lithograph technique, 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 case, the monk used a lithographed copy of Byzantine art and crafted this piece following the traditional method of artificial aging. The lithograph technique in iconography is essentially a printing technique.

Origin: Mount Athos