Main Bead Embroidery Kit Icon «Protection of the Blessed Virgin»

“Icon «Protection of the Blessed Virgin»” shows the Mother of God with her arms outstretched, holding a veil over those who pray. The figure stands against a pale blue sky with clouds.

What the picture shows

The Virgin faces the viewer in a red maphorion with a gold edging and a crown from which a veil falls. Both arms are spread wide and hold a long cloth of protection: it is worked in white, gold and silver beads in vertical rows, so it reads as fabric falling in folds. The lower garment is blue with broad white stripes. The halo is filled with tight rings of golden beads and takes up almost the whole upper part of the image. The background is a pale clouded sky, left as print on the canvas. A wide red and gold border with fine patterning and light panels at the sides frames the whole, opening into a shallow arch above the head. A plaque with a Church Slavonic inscription runs along the bottom on a light field. The beadwork covers the figure, the veil, the halo and the border ornament, so they stand clearly above the matte printed sky, and the vertical rows of beading make the veil genuinely read as cloth.

What is in the kit

• Artist canvas with the full-colour pattern printed on it — no chart to follow on a screen
• Czech Preciosa beads, 15 colours
• Beading needles
• Instructions and finishing guide

Specifications

• Finished size: 190×250 mm (7.5×9.8 in)
• Beads: approx. 7,787
• Bead colours: 15
• Difficulty: medium
• Base: artist canvas

The piece is vertical and compact, suited to a home icon shelf or a small stand. Both a classic frame and gallery finishing without a frame will work.