- In stock
SAINT ANTONY THE GREAT
Icon with water-gilding on linden wood. Icon painting that employs the most suitable colors and application of egg-tempera paints. Water-gilding with gold leaf 24K. The gilded surface of the icon has been further decorated with hand-engravings (tsoukaniko).
Saint Anthony the Great lived in the desert, tamed his soul and subdued his passions, reaching the highest limits of asceticism. He became the model for all ascetics. He gave up his blessed soul to God at the old age of 105 years old. His memory is honoured on the 17th of January.
Icon with water-gilding on natural lime tree wood. The wood has been prepared in heat and gilded with gold leaf 24K, in accordance with traditional Byzantine techniques. The icon has been painted with egg-tempera paints for best performance and endurance of colors used. The colors were chosen based on studies and analyses of older icons by renowned iconographers, after ARTIS had first conducted conservation treatments on them. The gilded surface of the icon has been further decorated with hand-engravings (tsoukaniko).
Saint Anthony the Great was born in Upper Egypt to a rich and virtuous family in 251 AD. At a young age, however, he lost both of his parents. Quickly, he decided to abandon life in the world and to depart to the desert, once he had first arranged for the care of his younger sister and distributed his family’s great wealth to the poor of the region. In the desert, he tamed his soul and subdued his passions, reaching the highest limits of asceticism, so that the Saint’s soul could even leave his body while still in this life. He became the model for all ascetics. Many of them came to the desert to hear him and receive his counsel. He gave up his blessed soul to God at the old age of 105 years old. His memory is honoured on the 17th of January