HOLY VIRGIN PELAGONITISSA. ORTHODOX ICON. HAND PAINTED TEMPERA ON WOOD

Pelagonitissa, also known as "The Virgin with Child playing", is a variation of the "Virgin of Tenderness". 

The icon owes its name to the town of Pelagonis in Macedonia (nowadays Bitola). This name also recalls the Greek word for sea, "The Virgin of the Sea", as it is also called.

It offers the peculiarity that the child strokes his mother's face with his right hand, and his arm and foot are folded down.

This motif is seldom found, and its party is situated on November 7. The subject is known due to the late Byzantine, from the 13th.century.

The original is in the museum of Skopje in Macedonia.

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I do all these works myself, and by own hand.

First, I prepare the table by applying 7-8 layers of a mixture of rabbit tail, chalk (calcium carbonate) and water. Once dry, I smooth the surface to make it smooth, and draw the silhouette, and the main lines of the icon.

Then I proceed to the golden gilt and / or bottom giving a layer of red yellow ocher, varnish for gilders and I apply the gold leaves carefully, letting them dry.

After 24 hours I gentlyclean the surface to remove the excess' gold particles, and I give a coat of lacquer to protect the gold.

The colors are prepared using very milled, and dry pigments which they are mixed with the yolk which they have been diluted with water and shellac.
When the first layer of color has dried, a second coat is given using the same color but more diluted in water. The procedure is repeated several times (6-7 layers) starting with the dark colors and ending with the light.

The faces, hands and feet are painted by myself at the end as well as their luminous tones. To finish the job, I write the inscriptions and in some my signature, which is my name in Russian Cyrillic "лаура", and the year that I painted it.

Once finished, and when it has completely dried, I apply a thin layer of varnish to protect it.

Лаура Ф