Description
Silkscreen of Virgin Mary Odigitria on Naturally Aged Wood
An exquisite icon depicting Virgin Mary Odigitria.
According to Christian tradition, the image of Virgin Mary Odigitria is historically the first icon of the Church, which is believed to have been created by the Evangelist Luke. It is attributed with many miracles, one of the most notable being in 717 AD, when it helped save Constantinople from the Arabs.
In another version of the story, the Virgin Mary Odigitria, which was kept in the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi, disappeared twice in 1730. In both cases, no violation of the Monastery occurred, and the icon was eventually found at the Holy Monastery of Xenophontos. The monks of Vatopedi finally understood that the icon was vanishing miraculously, and they did not want to oppose the decision of the Virgin Mary. Since then, the icon of the Virgin Mary Odigitria has remained in the Katholikon of the Holy Monastery of Xenophontos.
The uniqueness of this icon lies in both the naturally aged wood and the technique used in its creation. The wood comes from a cell in Mount Athos, which was restored due to the wear and tear it had suffered over time. Each icon carries its own story through the passage of time, once serving as an object for the monks’ daily life and later transformed into a beautiful piece of art, a religious item. This makes each piece of wood unique.
This wonderful icon is now part of the collection available through “Athonite Heritage.”
Since the icon is handmade and the wood is manually processed, there may be slight variations in the wood but not in the depiction.
The icon is available upon order.
Origin: Mount Athos
Dimensions: 34 x 25 x 2 cm
