Saint Raphael with Saints – Silk Screen Print on Naturally Aged Wood – Mount Athos

Description

Silk Screen Print of Saint Raphael on Naturally Aged Wood

Silk screen print on naturally aged wood featuring Saint Raphael, surrounded by Saints. These include Saint Andrew, Saint Eustratius, Saint Mardarious, Saint Philip, Saint Sabbas the Vatopediot, and Saint Philoumenos.

It is known that Saint Raphael, before becoming a cleric, had served in the Byzantine army and even reached a high rank. After his monastic tonsure, he was ordained a priest and honored with the titles of archimandrite and protosyncellus. Just a few years before the fall of Constantinople, Saint Raphael found himself, after much wandering, on the island of Lesbos, where he lived in monastic solitude.

Later, in 1463 AD, Lesbos fell into the hands of the Turks, who, during a raid on the monastery, captured Saint Raphael on Holy Thursday. What followed were harsh and relentless tortures, and Saint Raphael was martyred in a brutal manner. Specifically, he was dragged by his hair and beard, hung from a tree, beaten, pierced with their war instruments that were heated in a strong fire, and ultimately, he was beheaded by being sawed through the mouth.

His feast day is two days after Easter, on Bright Tuesday (Diakainisma or Lamprotriti).

The monk created this beautiful silk screen print on naturally aged wood. The image stands out due to two key elements: one is the impeccably crafted representation of Saint Raphael, surrounded by six other Saints, and the other is the naturally aged wood used as the base for the icon. The monks, paying attention to even the smallest details, create these icons on pieces of wood sourced from the Holy Mountain itself. These woods come from restoration work on cells that had suffered damage over time. The monks then processed and preserved the wood, giving it a new purpose as the base for these stunning icons.

Since the icon is handmade and the wood processing is done by hand, there may be slight variations in the wood, but not in the depiction itself.

The icon is available upon order.

Origin: Mount Athos

Dimensions: 33 x 25.5 x 3 cm