Icons of Mount Athos

For more than a thousand years the peninsula of Mount Athos in northern Greece has been the spiritual heart of Orthodox monasticism. Its twenty ruling monasteries, Greek, Serbian, Russian, Bulgarian, Georgian and Romanian, along with many sketes and hermitages, hold an unrivalled collection of icons, frescoes, manuscripts and liturgical objects. Many are still used daily in worship. This section presents that living treasury: the wonderworking icons of the Theotokos venerated by pilgrims from across the Orthodox world, and the Palaiologan frescoes of the Protaton traditionally attributed to Manuel Panselinos. It also covers the sixteenth-century Cretan painters, such as Theophanes, who renewed Athonite painting, and the painter's manuals that passed the tradition on to modern times. Articles distinguish between legend and history, and between original painting and later renewal. Access to Athos is limited, so we also point to museums and exhibitions where Athonite art can be seen.