Silver icon with Virgin Mary the Eldress Gerontissa. Handmade silver icon on natural wood, made with 925ο silver. The natural wood used for the synthesis of the icon is beech (fagus) from Mount Athos, a wood that is receptive to aging techniques that give the appearance of vintage to the wood, without altering the depicted image.
The depictions of faces, hands, halos or other representations are hand-painted on canvas by specialized iconographers, according to the traditional techniques of Byzantine Iconography. The silver frame of the icon is held by nails to resemble the original icons. On the back side, the icon has a small metal ring made of horseshoe nails so that it can be hung.
The holy icon of Virgin Mary "Gerontissa" is found in the Holy Monastery of Pantocrator and is the main icon of the Monastery. The tradition says that it is a gift of Byzantine emperor Alexius A' Komnenos to the monastery. The particular picture is the only portable image, which depicts the Virgin full-body in a stand of deesis. Μore about Theotokos Gerontissa.
