Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia – Aged Lithograph – Mount Athos

Description

Aged Lithograph of Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia
An incredible icon of Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia, who was canonized as a saint by the Orthodox Church in 2013. Elder Porphyrios was born in 1906 in Evia and, at the age of 12, secretly left for Mount Athos. He became a monk at 14 and took the name Nikitas, but after a few years, he fell seriously ill, which forced him to leave Mount Athos.

He returned to Evia, where he lived in the Monastery of Saint Charalambos in Lefka, and in 1926 was ordained a priest by Porphyrios III, the Archbishop of Sinai, who gave him the name Porphyrios. At the age of 22, he became a spiritual father and confessor, and soon after, he was made archimandrite. In 1940, on the eve of World War II, he took on the duties of priest and spiritual father at the Polykliniki of Athens, where he remained for many years. In June 1991, sensing his impending death, he departed for his hermitage of Saint George in Kavsokalyvia on Mount Athos, where he passed away on December 2 of the same year.

Aged Lithograph: Characteristics
This particular icon was created using the lithography technique, which is taught in the iconography workshops of Mount Athos. Many monks use this technique to create exceptional works of art. In this case, the monk used a lithographed copy of Byzantine art and completed the piece by following the traditional method of artificial aging. Lithography in iconography essentially serves as a printing technique.

Origin: Mount Athos