Saints Constantine & Helen – Aged Lithograph with Gold Leaf – Mount Athos

Description

Aged Lithograph Featuring Saints Constantine and Helen
Description
Saint Constantine is depicted wearing a purple mantle and an ornate golden sash, symbolizing the shroud and the resurrection of Christ. Saint Helen, adorned with a pink mantle and a golden sash, is shown wearing a blue headscarf.

The faces of Saints Constantine and Helen express both sternness and a heavenly sweetness.

Saint Helen is considered the patroness of blacksmiths, as she is said to have discovered the iron nails used to crucify Christ alongside the Holy Cross. The Greek people have associated numerous traditions with her name. Together with her son Constantine, she is also regarded as a protector of pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land.

Aged Lithograph: Characteristics
In this particular icon, the monk-iconographer employed the technique of lithography to create a work of unique beauty, adorned with gold leaf around its edges. Specifically, by using a lithographed reproduction of Byzantine art, the monk crafted this piece following the traditional method of artificial aging as taught in the iconography workshops of the Athonite monastic community. Notably, the artificial aging of the iconography is done by hand, a process to which the monks of Mount Athos attribute great importance.

Origin: Mount Athos