Updates
20. April 2025.
Resurrection in mother-of-pearl
Today we present to you the icon of the Resurrection in full glory, wishing a Happy Easter to all believers who celebrate. An anonymous craftsman who worked in Bethlehem has left us an icon in which he carved the scene of the Resurrection in mother-of-pearl. In the 18th or 19th century, he glued fragments of mother-of-pearl onto an oak board, and on the edges of each vertical side he drew two standing saints and a floral ornament between them, and on the upper horizontal edge the Annunciation. He carved the scene of the Resurrection into the central part of the icon. When this icon arrived at the Provincial Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments from the Museum of the Diocese of Zvornik-Tuzla in Bijeljina, it was in a rather poor condition. The oak support was so distorted that even a year of straightening it by steaming had not yielded any results. Realizing that despite all their efforts, they would not be able to preserve it in its completely original form, the Institute's conservators removed part of the support and glued new wood underneath. A particular challenge was posed by the missing and broken mother-of-pearl fragments. They took our conservators on a long walk along the Danube and collected shells to make new elements. Once the shells were cut into the missing shapes, the old ones were removed and cleaned, as well as the new fragments, and they were glued to a wooden support with Paraloid B72, which is significantly more reversible than the original glue used, thus leaving room for some future conservators to work more easily. Photography: Erdelji Maria
