The holy martyr doctor Panteleimon was very revered in Russia. He lived at the turn of the III-IV centuries. in Nicomedia. He received the basics of Christian knowledge from his mother, later the pagan father gave it to the doctor. Comprehending the secrets of medicine, Panteleimon was simultaneously baptized by presbyter Ermolai. The young healer revived the child, bitten by the snake-serpent, with the name of Christ, and healed the blind man. Under the emperor Maximian was subjected to cruel torture and executed in 305. Icon-painting workshops of the Russian Saint Panteleimon Monastery on Athos were famous throughout Russia.
Thousands and thousands of pilgrims took with them an image – the blessing of the Holy Mountain. Probably there was no church in the country where there could not have been at least one icon of Athonite masters. By the end of the XIX century. the style of the Athonite Russian icons has acquired a pronounced character, not without the influence of the Balkan artistic culture. This, as a rule, large single-figure images, made on large thick boards. On Athos icons Panteleimon appears noble youth holding a box with drugs. The features of his face are emphatically correct and symmetrical.
Perfect correctness gives the image a certain detachment. The irreal gold background enhances the feeling of heaviness of the figure, draped in heavy bright fabrics. The finest translucent coatings on the face with naturalistic images create the effect of illusory disembodiedness. The memory of the saint is celebrated on August 9 n. Art.
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