Skip to content Skip to footer

Panagia Rodon Amaranton

The icon of the enthroned Theotokos is kept in the church of Saint Athanasius in Trilofo, in the municipality of Mikra, Thessaloniki and dates back to 1865 according to the inscription on its lower part. The work is signed by the well-known icon painter Dico from the village of Tresonce and is the product of an artistic workshop active in the 19th century centred on the town of Debar in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It is associated with the production of the Mijak, an ethnic community of this region, famous for its numerous families of skilled craftsmen.

The multi-faceted image offers the viewer a concentrated visual metaphor for a multitude of hymnological references to the Virgin Mary and her role in the Incarnation. In the centre and on a precious golden plain, the Virgin Mary is depicted crowned, enthroned in the well-known type Rhodon the Amaranton. Although this iconography, although it draws its inspiration from a Byzantine hymn composed by Joseph the Hymnographer (816-886), it appears and spreads much later, only in the late post-Byzantine period, and is considered a composition of Western inspiration. The Virgin Mary as a rose wears a rose mantelpiece and rests her feet on flowering roses at the bottom of the scene which are grown by Christ’s forefather, Jesse. Jesse’s root is in fact the genealogical tree of Christ’s Incarnation, interpreting the hymn The rod out of the root, Jesse, and the flower out of it, Christ, risen from the Virgin. On the same axis, but in the upper part of the representation, the depiction of God the Father in the clouds and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, together with the Son in the arms of his mother, make up the Triune Godhead. The Virgin thus functions as the scale to heaven, the means of the Incarnation and salvation. In this historical mission of the Virgin and in the process of the Incarnation, the contribution of her parents, Joachim and Anna, who are represented on either side of her on a smaller scale, was decisive.

This special role of the Blessed Virgin Mary is emphasized by the themes that frame the central performance, conveying in image the praising content of the most important hymns composed in her honour. The inner narrow band framing the central theme on only two sides includes figures of prophets in floral medallions and a blue plain. The prophets hold open inscribed scrolls and are accompanied by symbols representing the Virgin Mary. The incorporation of the representatives of the Old Testament into the New Church inaugurated by Christ in his Incarnation and Sacrifice unifies and completes historical time, as it illustrates the fulfillment of the promise foretold by the prophets. This promise and the announcement of the Virgin Mary is exalted in the Divine Liturgy with the well-known hymn Above the Prophets, which fed Byzantine art from early on with impressive iconographic figures.

The outer end of the film is divided into 24 compartments, which surround the central theme and develop in miniature the 24 houses of the Acathist Hymn, a work attributed to Romano the Melodist and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In this way, the visual praise of the Virgin Mary is completed, since her position in the Gospel story is summarized and her role in Christian doctrine is highlighted. The second preamble of the short story “Tia hypermacho “, which surrounds the outer frame of the picture, contributes to the organic connection of the 24 episodes, unifying and making their conceptual content easily recognizable to the believer.

From an artistic point of view, the wise organization of the iconographic programme, the skilful handling of colours and their contrasts in order to promote the central theme, as well as the assimilated Western influences, noticeable in the rendering of the individual decorative details, are characteristic features of Dico’s art. The skilful hagiographer, open to the aesthetic pursuits of his time, renewed with boldness and originality the expressive means of artistic tradition, creating an interesting visual idiom.

Athanasios Semoglou
Professor of Byzantine Archaeology and Art
Department of History – Archaeology
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Extract from the album
“ROSE OF THE AMARANTH”,
© DUKAS Publications S.A.

Panagia Rodon Amaranton

The icon of the enthroned Theotokos is kept in the church of Saint Athanasius in Trilofo, in the municipality of Mikra, Thessaloniki and dates back to 1865 according to the inscription on its lower part. The work is signed by the well-known icon painter Dico from the village of Tresonce and is the product of an artistic workshop active in the 19th century centred on the town of Debar in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

ClientClient nameYear2018AuthorAuthor nameShare

Newsletter

DOUKAS CULTURE © 2025. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Minimum 4 characters