(photo may be enlarged by clicking on it)"I" is for Icon
(photo may be enlarged by clicking on it)In 1993, my daughter and her family were living on the island of Crete, Greece. I had the pleasure of spending 4 weeks with them and exploring the island -- and the shops, which offered many opportunities to spend my drachmas. Along with many other things, I bought the icon pictured above. According to the label affixed to the back: "Byzantine Icon This icon is handmade by the priest Refki, who learned the Agiography technik in Athos."
In addition to the Madonna and Child in the center, the icon features the archangel Michael on the left "door" and on the right, the archangel Raphael. (3/19/09 - correction: on the right is the archangel Gabriel. My sharp-eyed reader, rhymeswithplague, correctly interpreted the notation. It was all Greek to me.)
The icon is solid wood and has a stout hook on the top back to allow it to be hung on the wall, but since the base is quite sturdy, it sits on my bedroom dresser, as it has for almost 16 years.
ABC Wednesday was created by Mrs. Nesbitt. Please visit the ABC Wednesday site to view others' interpretations of this week's letter, "I."
