Icon of St Benedict (Silvia Dimitrova, 2010)

Silvia Dimitrova (website) was born in Pleven in Northern Bulgaria in 1970 and won a place at the prestigious School of Applied Arts at Troyan at the age of 13. She graduated in 1989. She then studied icon painting in Sofia under the tuition of Georgi Tchouchev, the grand master of Bulgarian icons, and was invited to exhibit her work in Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia, amongst the elite group of icon painters.

In the spring of 1999 she was commissioned by Downside Abbey to paint the Icon of St Benedict, and subsequently her work can be seen in many Cathedrals and Churches in England. She works in the traditional technique of icon painting - egg tempera on wood, and her work covers the whole spectrum of traditional Bulgarian icons and original works.

In 2009 she was commissioned by Worth School to paint an Icon of St Benedict to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Founding of Worth Senior School. The icon hangs in the reception area of the school where its brilliance and warmth welcomes all our visitors as they enter the main building.

Mounted copies of this and other icons are available from Worth Abbey Icon Studio

Click on the image below for a higher resolution copy