Lazarus Zographos

Saint Lazarus Zographos(died 867) was a monk and painter from Constantinople who opposed the religious policy of iconoclasm during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Theophilus. The Life of St. Lazarus relates that after refusing to destroy his paintings and cease painting he was imprisoned and later his hands were burned with red-hot horseshoes. However, after the restoration of icons, he repainted the famous Christ Chalkites over the Chalke Gate into the imperial palace in 843. In 856, he served as ambassador to Pope Benedict III in Rome and was again named ambassador to Rome in 867, but died in Galata before setting out. He was buried in the Monastery of Evanderes near Constantinople.

His feast day is 17 November in the Orthodox (Julian) calendar and 23 February in the Roman Catholic calendar.

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