Panagia Ierosolymitissa – Embossed Gold Print with Sandblasting – Mount Athos

Description

Embossed Gold Print with Sandblasting of the Virgin of Jerusalem

An exquisite embossed gold-printed depiction of the Virgin of Jerusalem.
In 1870 AD, at the Monastery of St. Mary Magdalene on Mount Sinai, there was a nun named Tatiana, a highly talented iconographer renowned not only within her monastery but also in the broader region. One night, as Tatiana was sleeping, she had a very strange dream.

In her dream, a nun whom she did not recognize appeared in her cell, insisting that Tatiana paint her portrait. Tatiana replied that she was an iconographer, not a portrait painter, and that her skills were in the traditional Byzantine technique of iconography, not in painting portraits. She explained that she had no interest in painting portraits, only in creating icons, and if the nun needed a portrait, she would have to ask someone else.

The nun then told Tatiana she wanted her to paint an icon and not merely a portrait. Trying to dismiss the nun, Tatiana explained that even if she wanted to make an icon, she didn’t have a suitable wooden board. The mysterious nun immediately handed her a wooden board for iconography.

Realizing she couldn’t easily “get rid” of the nun, Tatiana took her tools and began working. At that moment, the nun’s garments began to glow, and Tatiana realized that she was in the presence of the Virgin Mary herself! The Virgin told Tatiana that she wanted her to be the second person after Luke to paint her icon. At that moment, Tatiana woke up, terrified, and went straight to the abbess.

When Tatiana and the abbess returned to the cell, they noticed a fragrance coming from behind the door. Opening it, they found an icon of the Virgin exactly as Tatiana had seen her in the dream. This icon was thus believed to be divinely created. The following day, Tatiana had another vision in which the Virgin Mary asked her to take the icon to her “home” in Gethsemane.

Today, the Virgin of Jerusalem resides at the Holy Shrine of the Mother of God’s Tomb in Gethsemane and is considered particularly miraculous, having “responded” to countless prayers of those who come to her.

Embossed Gold Print with Sandblasting: Characteristics

In the icon depicting the Annunciation of the Theotokos, the monastic iconographer used the technique of embossed gold printing to create a uniquely beautiful work. Gold stamping is a type of thermal printing technique in which a very thin layer of metallic gold foil is applied to surfaces such as wood, leather, cardboard, or plastic using pressure from a heated, embossed plate. Around the perimeter of the icon, sandblasting is also used, which is a process where part or all of a surface is abraded by sand under pressure.
 

Dimensions: 24 x 22 x 1.5 cm
Origin: Mount Athos