Toile imprimée pour broderie de perles (sans perles) – icône « Saint Étienne »

“St. Stephen” — a waist-length image of the hierarch in green vestments, holding a Gospel book.

What the picture shows

The saint is shown as an elderly man with a long grey beard and grey hair, turned slightly to the right. He wears a deep green phelonion with fine patterning, and over it a pale omophorion with gold crosses and a red edge. His left hand holds a Gospel book in a red binding with gold tooling; his right rests quietly on his chest. The halo is wide, moving from dense gold at the centre to a pale rim. The background is cream with printed leaf scrollwork; two fan-shaped corner motifs sit above, narrow brown-and-amber bands run down the sides, and a cartouche in a gold surround closes the panel below. The beading is partial: beads cover the figure, the vestments, the omophorion, the Gospel, the halo and the frame, while the face, beard, hands and background stay as printed on the canvas.

What you get

• Natural artist canvas with the full-colour pattern printed on it — no chart to follow on a screen
• Colour key for Czech Preciosa beads
• Beads, needles and thread are chosen separately

Specifications

• Finished size: 170×230 mm (6.7×9.06 in)
• Beads needed: approx. 4,381
• Bead colours: 15
• Base: natural artist canvas

The piece is vertical, the size of a small household icon. It suits a name-day icon for a Stephen or Stepan. The green phelonion takes up most of the field, so it is worth taking several close shades of green — a large area in one tone will look flat.