Prince Charles talking to Athos monks.
You can find this picture in a fine black and white photo slide-show about Chilandariou/Athos on You Tube, made by Hadzi Miodrag Miladinovic at 8:45, and another one of the Prince of Wales at 0.19′ (thanks to Giannis).
Wim, 16/3
What made the artist paint a WOMAN on this chair: did he want to shock or protest, or might it be the Panaghia, resting next to a travel bag?
I think that the artist just “borrowed” the architecture of Vatopaidi to use it in the painting. I don’t think that the place in the painting is supposed to be a monastery, since you can also see a man in a turkish attire and not just the woman.
Athos did shelter refugees including women and girls twice in its history: during the aftermath of the failed 1770 Orlov Revolt, and during the Greek War of Independence in 1821.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Athos
The monk on the right hand side of the first image looks like Archimandrite Ephraim Abbot of Batopedi Monastery in his younger days.
Hi there a friend of mine lived for some time in the Holy Mountain and he met a russian Hermite monk named Father Serafim, who seemed to be a prophet and is now back in Russia. Did you happen to hear anything about him? As he was a fascinating person I am trying to find out about him and his prophecies on the english internet but I have no luck. I know that the russian internet is full of his videos where he warns people about up coming events. Would any reader of this blog who knows russian take the trouble and search a bit about him? The results will be interesting. Thanks a lot, Mary