A unique handmade icon with enamel (smalt) made by the brotherhood in the Holy Monastery of Saint Elisavet.
Dimensions: 5.5 x 7 cm.
The history of enamel (smalt) is literally dawning many centuries back, while the oldest samples are found in the civilization of Mycenae. The art of the smalt reached its zenith during the Byzantine times (8th – 12th centuries), when it was applied in ecclesiastical, as well as in luxurious items. Through the ages, smalt was considered an expensive and valuable piece of art, which was based on the use of grated glass – mass, colored with various metallic oxides. This mass is placed on a metallic surface and is baked in a special oven in temperature of 600 to 900C. When the glass mass gets cold, it becomes solid, creating one merged mass with the metal. In that way, smalt can offer us pieces with bright, shining and vivid colors.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the God-Man, is the second Person of the Holy Trinity. In iconography, “Jesus Christ Blessing” is usually depicted either from the waist up or in full figure. Jesus Christ is shown making with his right hand the characteristic gesture of blessing (IC XC NIKA), while in his left hand He holds the Gospel, either open or closed. Upon the halo that surrounds His head is inscribed the phrase «Ὁ Ὤν», which means «The One Who Is».This refers to the words of God spoken to Moses: «I AM WHO I AM. Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you» (Exodus 3:13).
