The Process of Creating a Mosaic Icon

The long and complex process of creating a portable mosaic icon, in 2 minutes.

Famous in Rome after it was brought there at the end of the 1400s. Tradition says it was taken from Crete by an Italian merchant who stole it on the island, but then gave it to the San Matteo church in Rome. It became known as the “Madonna di San Matteo.” It disappeared from view when the French invaded Rome in 1812, and was gone for over forty years, but then was found in an Augustinian oratory in the 1860s. The rediscovered image caught the attention of Pope Pius IX, who had known it in San Matteo as a boy. He accorded it great importance, which led to its eventually becoming a well-known Catholic printed paper reproduction found on the walls of many Catholic homes. It was by then known as "Nostra Signora del Perpetuo Soccorso" in Italian, or in English “Our Lady of Perpetual Succor.” It is more commonly known in the United States as “Our Lady of Perpetual Help.” The image has undergone restoration twice, first in 1866 and again in 1940, which perhaps accounts for its rather bland present appearance.

In Greek Orthodoxy, the type is generally called either Παναγία του Πάθους — Panagia tou Pathous, meaning “All-Holy One of the Passion,” or Παναγία η Αμόλυντος — Panagia he Amolyntos — “All-Holy Pure One.”

source: https://russianicons.wordpress.com/tag/pan...

Created by Anca and Alex Costenco in 2024. size 74x56cm. Murano glass smalti and gold smalti.