St Anna Icon

Handmade icon of Saint Anna from finely ground semiprecious stones.

Saint Anna, the mother of the Most Holy Theotokos, descended from the tribe of Levi on her father’s side, while her mother hailed from the tribe of Judah. The father of the Virgin Mary, the righteous Joachim, came from the line of King David, from which the Messiah was prophesied to be born.

Joachim and Anna resided in the Galilean city of Nazareth.  Though deeply grieved by their childlessness, they bore the scorn of their community with faith and humility.  In Jewish tradition, childlessness was often perceived as a consequence of sin. However, the righteous couple remained steadfast in their prayers, beseeching God for a child.

The Lord, responding to their piety and fervent supplications, sent an angel to each of them. The angel predicted the arrival of a daughter who would be blessed by all of humanity. Soon after, the Virgin Mary was born. After a few years, Saint Joachim reposed in the Lord at the age of eighty.  Saint Anna lived for another two years, devoting herself to the upbringing of the Virgin Mary, before peacefully departing this life at the age of seventy-nine.

This composition is made using semiprecious stones: 

• White — alumina, calcite, marble;
• Cherry — haematite, jasper;
• Blue and pale blue — azurite, lazurite, turquoise, turkmenite, iolite;
• Yellow — amber, lemonite, jarosite, auripigment;
• Golden — pyrite, astrophyllite;
• Red — coral, cinnabar, tufa, garnet;
• Lilac — amethyst, stichtite, lepidolite;
• Gray — galenite, antimonite, molybdenite;
• Orange — crocoite, carneol, wulfenite;
• Black — gagate, shungite, aegirine;
• Brown — jasper, sphalerite, volcanic rocks, lemonite;
• Green — malachite, dioptase, diopside, serpentine, onyx, amazonite.

This icon is mounted on horizontal surfaces with a support on its reverse side.