Face Made Without Hands
This icon is called "Face Made without Hands", sometimes just, "Not Made by Hands", or The Holy Face, or even the Greek word for cloth, "Mandylion". The story was told that King Abgar of Edessa, being ill, sent a servant, the Court painter, to request that Jesus come and heal him. When Jesus was unable to do so, the painter proceeded to attempt to paint Jesus. When Jesus saw this, he washed his face and then pressed a cloth to his own face, leaving his image upon it, and gave it to him to take back to King Abgar. He was healed by this miraculous cloth. We know of the existence of the cloth as late as 944, when the sacred cloth was moved from Edessa to Constantinople.
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Icon written in egg tempera 9 1/2 x 12 1/2
Icon Description: 12 1/2 by 12 1/2 egg tempera with 24K gold on gessoed wood board
St. Mark the Apostle at his desk
Icon written in egg tempera 9 1/2 x 12 1/2
Face Made Without Hands
Icon Description: 12 1/2 by 12 1/2 egg tempera with 24K gold on gessoed wood board
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About Me
- Heavenly Windows
- My interest in Byzantine iconography began out of an interest in Mexican oil paintings on tin of saints, called retablos. A friend who was also an avid retablo collector, suggested I take a course in icon painting. I did as a way to understand the religious meanings of icons. I have come to love the process of icon writing (the preferred description) in egg tempera, using all natural pigments and materials. My most recent subject for icon-writing is St. Mark at his desk. I plan to begin an image of the Theotokos, known as the God-Bearer, and is an image of the Virgin and Child, for one of my granddaughters who is getting married next April. I need plenty of time, so the icon can rest after writing (painting)the icon before the final process of oiling.
1 comment:
The icon is beautiful... post more pictures, and maybe some of your retablos too!
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