Saint Hypomone – Aged Lithograph – Mount Athos

Description

Aged Lithograph of Saint Hypomone

Saint Hypomone came from a royal family and was a Christian with deep faith in God. At the age of 19, she married Manuel II Palaiologos (at the end of the 1390s), a few months before he became Emperor. As Empress, she loved the people and was also a blessed mother of eight children, to whom she taught the Christian faith. After the death of her husband, she became a nun at the Monastery of Lady Martha, taking the name Hypomone. Three of her children chose the same path. It was God’s will that she did not experience the final tragic moments of the Empire. She was called to Him on March 13, 1450, after serving 35 years as Empress and 25 years as a humble nun.

Aged Lithograph: Characteristics

In this particular image, the iconographer monk used the technique of lithography to create a work of exceptional beauty. Specifically, using a lithographed copy of Byzantine art, the monk crafted this piece following the traditional method of artificial aging, as taught in the iconography workshops of the Athonite State. The artificial aging of the icon is handmade, a process to which the monks of Mount Athos place great importance.

Origin: Mount Athos