Athos Holy Mount

Athonite Paper Icons	4.8 The Virgin Axion estin 1866 Collection of Simonopetra Monastery Coloured engraving 55 x 42 cm Engraved on Mount Athos Engraver: Unknown
	This is an Athonite version of the Axion estin icon in the Protaton of Karyes. The Virgin is shown half-length, with her head slightly inclined towards Christ Child, whom she supports with her left hand, while with her other she grasps his right hand, which holds a scroll with the inscription 'The spirit of the Lord God...' (Isiah 61:1) in two languages. In the upper corners two angels attend the Virgin, holding open scrolls with the beginning of the Axion estin hymn, in Greek the one on the right and in Slavonic the other on the left. The border has a floral decoration round the corners. Along the bottom runs the inscription 'Before This Holy Icon The Archangel Gabriel Chanted The Axion Estin', and beneath this the same inscription in Slavonic with the date 1866. The very fine engraving, with its delicate rendering of the facial features of Christ and the Virgin, the soft chiaroscuro and the detailed decoration of the crowns and the Virgin's mantle all place the unknown creator of this work among the most experienced craftsmen of Karyes. This is the last dated work of a series of thirteen representations on this theme, the earliest of which is by the well-known painter and engraver Christophoros Zefar (1748). The large number of engravings is due to the fact that Axion estin is the palladium-icon in the Protaton in Karyes, and is venerated by almost all pilgrims visiting Mount Athos. The icon itself shows the Virgin in the type of Glykophilousa and bears the inscription 'Mother of God the Kareotisa' (of Karyes), whereas in its painted copies and in engravings the type of the Virgin of Kykkos is used, with the inscription 'Mother of God the Eleousa'.
	Bibliography: Ioustinos 1982, p. 43. Papastratou 1986, no. 533.
	H.I.S.
	Index of exhibits of Monastery of Simonopetra 19th century

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