Saint Panteleimon the Healer – Silkscreen on Naturally Aged Wood – Mount Athos

Description

Silkscreen of Saint Panteleimon on Naturally Aged Wood

There are two elements that make this image especially valuable in terms of its aesthetic. The first is the flawlessly executed representation of Saint Panteleimon by the monk-artist, and the second is the naturally aged wood used as the base of the image. The monks, paying great attention to even the smallest detail, create these images on pieces of wood that come from the Holy Mountain itself. The wood comes from renovation works in cells that had been damaged by the passage of time. The monks processed and restored them, giving them a new purpose, this time as the base for these beautiful images.

Saint Panteleimon hailed from Nicomedia in Bithynia, Asia Minor. His father was a pagan, while his mother, Euboule (who is venerated as a saint), had converted to Christianity. After completing his medical studies, instead of accepting a position as a doctor in the court of Emperor Diocletian, he met Saint Hermolaus and embraced Christianity. After the death of his father, he sold his inheritance to support the poor and began offering his medical services for free to those in need.

However, his practice of helping others led many doctors to report him, accusing him of being a Christian. He was summoned to sacrifice to the idols in order to be freed. He refused, stating that he would not sacrifice to false gods. At that point, they sent a paralytic to him, hoping that either he or the court priests would heal the man to prove who was the true God. Saint Panteleimon healed the paralytic, which astonished everyone. Despite this, the Emperor tried again to persuade him.

Saint Panteleimon refused once again and was led to martyrdom. He was burned with torches, flogged, and scalded with hot oil. However, in many of these cases, the tortures caused him no pain. Eventually, they decided to throw him to wild beasts, but they did not harm him. Finally, it was decided to behead him. When he was beheaded, milk flowed from the wound instead of blood, a miracle that revealed how great a saint Saint Panteleimon was.

His feast day is celebrated on July 27.

Since the image is handmade and the wood is processed by hand, there may be small variations in the wood, but not in the depiction.

The image is available upon request.

Dimensions: 20 x 24.5 x 2.5 cm

Origin: Mount Athos