Saint Spyridon, circa 1700
Egg tempera and gesso on wood.
Feast Day: 12th of December, Saturday before Great Lent (Cheesefare Saturday) the period for reflection, repentance, and preparation for the spiritual discipline of Great Lent.
Saint Spyridon of Trimyphunteia was born towards the end of the third century on the island of Cyprus. He was a shepherd and is traditionally depicted wearing the ‘beehive’ shepherd’s hat of antiquity. He became a bishop and in 325 attended the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea. Saint Simeon Metaphrastes (10th century), wrote an account of his Life, and compared Saint Spyridon to the Patriarch Abraham in his virtue and hospitality. It is elsewhere recounted that the saint travelled to Alexandria where he put an end to the pagan worship of idols. He died on Cyprus in 348 where his relics were kept for over three hundred years. Following an Arab raid in the seventh century; the saint’s body was carried to Constantinople, where it was kept until the fall of the city to the Turks in 1453. In 1456 it was taken to Corfu where it is venerated to this day and of which island he is patron.
He is shown here as both kindly and determined, holding the gospel and blessing with his right hand. The painter has well understood that such an image is not a portrait but a rendering of presence.Saint Spyridon of Trimyphunteia was born towards the end of the third century on the island of Cyprus. He was a shepherd and is traditionally depicted wearing the ‘beehive’ shepherd’s hat of antiquity. He became a bishop and in 325 attended the First Ecumenical Council in Nicea. Saint Simeon Metaphrastes (10th century), wrote an account of his Life, and compared Saint Spyridon to the Patriarch Abraham in his virtue and hospitality. It is elsewhere recounted that the saint travelled to Alexandria where he put an end to the pagan worship of idols. He died on Cyprus in 348 where his relics were kept for over three hundred years. Following an Arab raid in the seventh century; the saint’s body was carried to Constantinople, where it was kept until the fall of the city to the Turks in 1453. In 1456 it was taken to Corfu where it is venerated to this day and of which island he is patron.
He is shown here as both kindly and determined, holding the gospel and blessing with his right hand. The painter has well understood that such an image is not a portrait but a rendering of presence.