Description
Wilfrid of York and the Church in Northumbria
Saint Wilfrid was a seventh-century English bishop associated with York and Ripon. At the Synod of Whitby in 664, he argued for the Roman calculation of Easter. His church at Ripon, built in 672, expressed the influence of his travels to Rome; its early crypt survives within the cathedral.
Mitre, crozier and crossed keys
The portrait shows Wilfrid in green episcopal vestments, wearing a mitre and holding a crozier. Crossed keys appear on the object beneath his hands. As an emblem associated with Saint Peter, they can be read here in relation to Wilfrid's Roman connections. The vestments identify his office symbolically, rather than reconstructing seventh-century clothing.
A focus for prayer and Church history
This icon suits a prayer corner or a study concerned with England's Christian heritage. Its specific connection with Ripon and the Easter controversy gives it a place alongside reading about Anglo-Saxon monastic life, rather than simply as a generic portrait of a bishop.
Made in Poland on linden wood
Art Christiana makes this icon to order on a linden-wood board with two coats of primer. The image is printed directly onto the prepared surface and finished with decorative gold-tone metal leaf (schlagmetal). A certificate bearing the production year and a hanging fixture are attached to the back.