Last Saturday, May 21, we celebrated the Holy Emperors Constantine and Helen, a fixed holiday that commemorates Emperor Constantine the Great and his mother, Elena Augusta. It is a holiday with a fixed date in the Byzantine calendar.

On this occasion, we present two icons depicting the two holy emperors, icons from the innovative exhibition of the project “Innovative techniques in Cultural Heritage valorisation. The icons on Sebeș Valley in the Transylvanian Museum of Ethnography collection”, project financed by the EEA Grants 2014-2021, within the RO-CULTURE Program.

Icons with no. of inventory 8813 dates from the first half of the 19th century and belongs to the Lancrăm icon centre. As a material and technique, the outline was drawn with ink on the back of the glass (irregular thin glass, made by hand) with a pen or brush, after a model. The painting of the surfaces was done with tempera. Silver paper was used, glued in places and used as a background. The frame is of resinous essence and has been profiled and stained. In size, the icon is 47.5 cm x 42 cm.

The second icon, with no. of inventory 8825, also dates from the first half of the 19th century and also belongs to the Lancrăm centre. The outline was drawn with ink on the back of the glass, in the same technique, with a pen or a brush, after a model. The surface was painted with tempera. Silver paper was used by gluing it in places in the background. The frame is made of resinous wood, profiled and painted. In size, the icon is 43.5 cm x 39 cm.