Virgin Mary icon Panagia of Stars, Handmade Greek Orthodox Icon, Mother of God Byzantine art, Theotokos wall hanging wood plaque

A wonderful lithography with a varnish layer and high quality paint depicting Virgin Mary / Panagia of Stars. An icon aesthetically upgraded with collective value due to the handmade artificial ageing it has undergone. This is an exact copy of a Byzantine hagiography.

The Mother of God of the Life-giving Spring or Life-giving Font (Greek: Ζωοδόχος Πηγή, Zoodochos Pigi, Russian: Живоносный Источник) is an epithet of the Holy Theotokos that originated with her revelation of a sacred spring (Greek: ἁγίασμα, hagiasma) in Valoukli, Constantinople, to a soldier named Leo Marcellus, who later became Byzantine Emperor Leo I (457-474).[note 1] Leo built the historic Church of St. Mary of the Spring over this site,[3] which witnessed numerous miraculous healings over the centuries,[note 2] through her intercessions, becoming one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Greek Orthodoxy.[4] Thus the term "Life-giving Font" became an epithet of the Holy Theotokos and she was represented as such in iconography.[5]

The feast day of the Life-giving Spring is celebrated on Bright Friday in the Orthodox Church,[2][note 3] and in those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite. Additionally, the icon of the Theotokos the "Life-giving Spring" is commemorated on April 4 / 17 in Slavic Orthodox churches.

The Virgin Mary is the Theotokos, the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son and Word of God. She conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. She was cared for by her betrothed husband, Joseph, who took the child and his mother into his home as his own. One very strong tradition in the Orthodox Church holds that the birth of Jesus was also miraculous and left Mary's virginity intact as a sign; it is also the tradition of the Church that Joseph and Mary did not have relations after the birth of Jesus. She is also called Panagia, the "All-Holy," indicating her closeness to God in her obedience.

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