Saint Joseph the Hymnographer

Orthodox icon of Saint Joseph the Hymnographer on thick plywood 20mm, which does not sting and keeps its shape over time. Preparation with acrylic stucco and have been used acrylic colors. It has been covered with varnish to keep the colors undiluted in time and humidity. Hanging clip included on the back of the icon. 

St. Joseph was born around 816 AD in Sicily of devout parents, Plotinus and Agatha. At the age of 15 he was tonsured a monk at the Latomos Monastery of Thessaloniki. About 840 the Bishop of Thessaloniki ordained him a hieromonk. With the resurgence of Byzantine Iconoclasm under Leo V the Armenian and Theophilos, Joseph was sent by Gregory of Dekapolis to Rome following an invitation of Pope Leo III in 841. While en route, Joseph was captured by slave-trading pirates and sold as a slave in Crete. In slavery Saint Nicholas appeared to Joseph and asked him to sing in the name of God. Nicholas then said to him: "Arise and follow me!" Joseph found freedom soon after his vision. He could finally return to Constantinople after more than one year in slavery in Crete. Joseph founded a monastery dedicated to his deceased mentor, Gregory of Dekapolis, in 855. He spent some years in a kind of sanctuary dedicated to St. John Chrysostom, where he continued his ascetic labors and attracted followers. In 858, he was exiled to the theme of Cherson and returned again to Constantinople in 867. Patriarch Ignatius I appointed him skeuophylax in the Great Church of Constantinople. He died April 3, 886 AD.