Previously here

Mother of God Galaktotrophusa (The Nursing Mother of God)

“…a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Jesus, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!’”

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

(Lk 11: 27-28)

The Nursing Mother of God is a relatively minor subject in Christian art and Marian imagery but a rather persistent one. The earliest examples come to us out of Egypt during the Late Antique period. It has a certain heightened popularity during the medieval period but can be found at many other times as well. The visual archetypal origin of the image may be, as with the Virgin Kyriotissa, the enthroned Egyptian goddess Isis feeding her child, Horus.

It seems, like the Mother of God Eleousa, to stress Christ’s humanity and the intimate relationship between Mother and Child and therefore should be less dogmatic than the other Marian types. But St. Germanus of Constantinople (a great defender of the use of icons in worship) seizes upon that very intimate mother and child moment to make a dogmatic point:

“Christ did not just appear to be a man, like some kind of shadow, but he was really and truly a man.”

The image is, in fact, often interpreted in a dogmatic way. This is partly due to the exaggerated abstraction of the mother’s anatomy (in strict Byzantine iconic fashion) which suggests a metaphoric interpretation. The highly intimate relationship between mother and child is understood as a metaphor for the Church feeding the faithful spiritual food through the sacraments. The Church gives new life to believers through baptism and nourishes them through the scriptures and, in a special way, through the Eucharist. She comforts them and extends mercy to them in confession. In this metaphor, without the Church, the faithful cannot possibly survive. This is a very Catholic/Orthodox understanding of the role of the Church and stands in marked contrast to Protestantism.

This post brings us to the end of our brief look at the basic categories of the Mother of God icons. We will continue, from time to time, to look at some examples of Western as well as Eastern Marian images that can, generally, be placed in one or the other of those categories.

I hope you have enjoyed the series and -if you were not already familiar with the categories- are now better able to utilized the Marian icons as an aid to prayer.

"Our Lady of Vladimir", ca. 1131, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

This Marian icon type is the most expressive of what we might think of as the normal relationship between a mother and child. Unlike the other, more dogmatic, icons of the Virgin and Child we have looked at (here), this one stresses the touching and typically deep attachment of a mother and child. Christ’s exalted status as the Divine Word is hardly apparent here. In fact, He seems as vulnerable and as much in need of His mother’s love and protection as any child. He snuggles up to her, nestles in her arms and nudges her cheek. He appears reluctant to leave her; she appears reluctant to share Him.

“But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a child quieted at its mother’s breast; like a child that is quieted is my soul.” (Ps. 131:2)

She seems pensive; perhaps she is recalling what the future holds for her son -and for her. 

Eleousa is a Greek word which means merciful; oumilenie is Russian and can be translated as mild, tender, loving, or compassionate. Even though under both titles the faces of the Virgin and Child touch affectionately, each title refers to different aspects or interpretations of the image. Under the title Eleousa the Virgin is understood as “the Merciful” while the title Oumilenie refers to the sentiment experienced by the Child –following the intervention of his Mother– of affectionate Tenderness. Eleousa pertains to the Mother, whereas Oumilenie pertains to the Child.

Christ sometimes referred to children in His teaching finding meaning in their trust and innocence.

“…unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt. 18:5)

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Suggestions for more information:

Icons Explained

The Mystical Language of Icons, Solrunn Nes, (Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005)

"Nicopeia" before (left) and after (right) theft of the icon's jewels

(left) Chapel of the Nicopeia Madonna in the Basilica de San Marco, Venice; (right) detail of "Piazza San Marco" by Canaletto, Venice, c.1730-35

When Doge Enrico Dandolo returned from the Fourth Crusade in 1204, he brought with him many spoils from the horrible sacking of Constantinople. Among these were the famous Horses of San Marco and the Nicopeia Madonna. This icon had been carried in battle at the head of the Imperial Army. Venetians venerated the Nicopeia Madonna (“she who brings victory”) as protectress of their city and on solemn occasions they displayed her on Basilica de San Marco’s high altar. She had also been the protectoress of Constantinople before it was stolen by the Venetians. Both frame and image were encrusted with valuable jewels placed there as votive offerings. In 1970 a robbery resulted in the loss of the painting’s jewels. So warned, the procurators removed the rest of the jewels from the frame before those could be stolen. The image is not thought to be the original taken from Constantinople, but a copy painted over several times.

The Nicopeia (and others like it) is a version of the Kyriotissa type but without a throne and in a portrait format rather than full figure. It has much in common with the next category of Marian icon we will explore, the Mother of God Platytera type.

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Image Sources:

Nicopeia images: venice.umwblogs.org/…/ (the right image was edited by me)

Chapel of the Nicopeia Madonna in two picture panel:  www.museumplanet.com/tour.php/venice/sm/114

Previously in this series here and here

Enthroned Virgin and Child

Apse Mosaic, Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sophia), Constantinople, before 867

A mosaic image of the Enthroned Virgin and Child in the apse vault of the “Great Church” was perhaps destroyed and replaced with a simple unadorned mosaic cross at about the start of the iconoclastic controversy in 726. Certainly by 754 the old image was gone by order of the so called Iconoclastic Council that banned the use of all images save simple crosses in churches. The monks who defended the use of icons in worship were persecuted between 762 and 768. By the end of that period icons were no longer being produced in the traditional capitol of icon painting, Constantinople.

I won’t get into the arguments both for and against the use of images in Christian worship except to say that the argument that eventually prevailed rested upon the doctrine of the Incarnation. The Second Person of the Trinity –the eternal Logos- had become man in Jesus Christ; by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. In the Incarnation, God was imaged in Jesus Christ. To deny the use of images of Jesus Christ and all other human images in worship is to deny the doctrine of the Incarnation.

The restoration of the icons on March 11, 843 is celebrated in the Eastern Church as “The Feast of (the) Orthodoxy.” The apse mosaic in Hagia Sophia of the Mother of God Kyriotissa was eventually restored. “The images which the imposters had cast down here, pious emperors have again set up” is the inscription that accompanied the restored image. In a homily delivered on March 29, 867, the patriarch Photius addressed the following words to the Virgin and Child in the apse:

Christ came to us in the flesh, and was born in the arms of His Mother. This is seen and confirmed and proclaimed in pictures… Does a man hate the teaching by means of pictures?…  Who is there who would not marvel, more from the sight of it than from the report (hearing about it)…? For surely, having somehow through the outpouring and effluence of optical rays touched and encompassed the object, it too sends the essence of the thing seen on to the mind, letting it be conveyed from there to memory… Has the mind seen? Has it grasped? Has it visualized? Then it has effortlessly transmitted the forms to the memory.

Why are so many of our churches today devoid of an important role for images? Why do we no longer visualize, grasp and hold “effortlessly” the Incarnation in our collective memory?

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Picture Source:

Center picture of panel: beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2009/08/ch…

Previously in this series: Here

(left) "Mother of God Kyriotissa", 6th c., St. Catherine Monastery, Mt. Sinai, Egypt; (right) "Isis Breast Feeding Horus", ancient Egypt, Louvre Museum, Paris, France.

The earliest icons created in the East have nearly all been lost to the destruction wrecked during the iconoclast period. There are only a few still extent from the sixth century and one group of them is located in the Monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mt. Sinai, in Egypt. Probably because of their remote location from the center of the iconoclastic movement in Constantinople, they were spared. One from this group is the enthroned Mother of God icon shown here.

It was in Egypt “that the title Theotokos (God Bearer) originated, having been applied to the Egyptian goddess, Isis.” In the classical world, images of Dionysos and Herakles as children were included in worship but never shown with a mother. The Egyptian god Horus, however, was often depicted as a child in his mother’s (Isis’) lap or arms. The term Theotokos was “popularized by the Christian writer Origen” and became “shorthand” for the Incarnation. Cyril of Alexandria defended the term at the Council of Ephesus in 431 as representing the dogma of the two natures of Christ –human and divine- which was eventually defined at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

The throne of the Mother of God Kyriotissa was probably adopted from depictions of Isis who was usually shown holding and feeding her infant son while seated on a royal throne. In fact, the name, Isis, “seems to have meant throne. Her hieroglyph was a throne and she was the protector of pharaoh’s throne.” Christian iconographers adopted the Isis imagery as, certainly, Mary was more worthy to be depicted in such a regal manner. Not having a visual tradition of their own—Christian artists usually baptized selective pagan images. Some people seem shocked when they hear of the adaptation of pre-Christian imagery or practices in Christian worship. Such images and practices, however, are evidence of pre-Christian searching for the Truth which is Christ. Early Christian writers saw in Greek philosophy and religion and pagan religious practices and myths, a kind of second “Old Testament” revelation given by God to the Gentiles that was eventually fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The above icon is 27 inches in height and painted with tempera on wood panel. The enthroned mother and child are guarded by two saints. The saints stare at us directly while standing stiff at attention. The child, too, looks out at us but Mary casts her eyes off to our right in somewhat of an attitude of detachment.  Two angels in the background, more conscious of the meaning of the Icarnation, turn their heads upward and look toward the hand of God entering the scene from the top.

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Book suggestion and reference:

*Holy Image + Hallowed Ground: Icons from the Sinai, Nelson, Robert S. and Kristen M. Collins, eds., (Los Angeles, Getty Publications, 2007) pp 47-50

Previously in this series: Here and Here

Click on images for a clearer display

Mother of God Kyriotissa*

(The Most Holy Mother of God Enthroned)

A true religious icon (in the narrow definition of that term) provides us with a view into heaven. Through carefully constructed symbolism and deliberate stylization of forms, light and colors we are mystically transported into the spiritual realm. Such images are more than mere story telling or photographic portraiture. We find ourselves soaking in the richness and depth of our faith. It is the kind of immersion that weds doctrine (dogma) to experience.

The Marian icon Kyriotissa is such an icon. The child sits in the lap of the mother who sits upon a throne. The throne, of course, adds a regal tone to the setting and we feel as though we are perhaps being granted an audience in a throne room. The space is flattened by the solid gold background. The perspective lines of the back of the throne seem unnatural. Everything glows with light. We seem to be in a different dimension. The poses of the figures are formal and frontal; approximately symmetrical. The facial expressions are rather neutral; both look out at us with a captivating stare.

The atmosphere is dignified and solemn.

In You, O Woman Full of Grace, the angelic choirs and the human race, all creation rejoices, O Sanctified Temple, Mystical Paradise and Glory of Virgins, He, Who is our God before all ages, took flesh from You and became a Child, He made Your Womb a Throne and greater than the heavens! ¹

We are exposed in this icon to a mystical comprehension of the paradox of the Incarnation. The Creator of the universe lets himself be contained in the womb of a woman. The only begotten of the Father, without a mother, is born as a man without a father. The throne of the divine child is his human mother’s lap!

How shall I give You milk, Who give food to all creation? How shall I hold You in My arms Who hold all things? How shall I look upon You without fear, on Whom the cherubim with many eyes dare not to lift their gaze? ²

The image encourages us. We are not lost. The redemption of the cosmos has begun and we look forward to its completion, the ultimate union between heaven and earth. This mystical vision assures us that our past has been let go, our present renewed, and our future glorious.

Let the creation cast off all that is old, when it sees you, the Creator, as a child. For through your birth you recreate all things, renew them, and lead them back to their original beauty. ³

(left) "The Virgin Nino"**, 4th century catacomb, Rome; (right) "The Adoration of the Magi"***, 5th century, Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome.

The Kyriotissa image appeared fairly early on in Christian art. There is a rather well known one, The Virgin Nino, from a 4^th century catacomb in Rome. Most historians refer to the Council of Ephesus (431) when discussing this icon type as the fathers of that council declared “that the holy virgin is the mother of God (for she bore in a fleshly way the Word of God become flesh.)” She is the Most Holy Theotokos (God Bearer). The basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome was constructed to celebrate the council’s proclamation.  The original 5^th century mosaics of the basilica include an image of the adoration of the magi in which Mary and the Child Jesus sit upon thrones.

In some versions of this icon type saints and angels fill the space all around the throne contributing to the feeling of a celestial vision. Two small saintly figures can be found in the top two corners of the icon that heads this post. In the West especially the formal symmetrical poses of the mother and child figures are replaced with the informal asymmetrical poses of the Hodegetria type, in effect combining the two types.

*    Image source: Icons Explained

**  www.aug.edu/…/virginNino.html

*** mealsfromthegirlinthelittleblackdress.wordpre..

¹ A portion of a Marian hymn by Basil the Great, as quoted in The Mystical Language of Icons, Second Edition by Solrunn Nes, (Grand Rapids, Eerdman’s, 2005) p51

² Nes 51 (Matutin, 6, tone)

³ Nes 51

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Book suggestion:

The Mystical Language of Icon, 2^nd edition by Solrunn Nes, (Grand Rapids, Eerdman’s, 2005)

A Hodegetria type icon:

Protectress of the Roman People

(Attributed to St. Luke)

Possibly dating from as early as the 5^th century but repainted to a large extent in the 13^th century, this icon is the most important Marian image in the city of Rome.  It now hangs in the Borghese/Pauline Chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica. The title, Salus Populi Romani (Salvation –health or well-being– of the Roman People), was given to the icon in the 19^th century and has its origins in the ancient pagan legal system in which the gods were asked for permission so the praetors could pray for the city.

The Pauline Chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome. The icon is rather large as panel icons go measuring about 5 feet in height.

Pope St. Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604), as a story goes, carried the icon in procession through the streets of Rome to put an end to the plague which was ravaging the city. In answer to the prayers and sung litanies of the marchers, the air cleared and became fresh and sweet. Gregory then saw an angel standing on top of the castle of Crescentius wiping a bloody sword and sheathing it. The castle was henceforth called the Castle of the Holy Angel –Castel Sant’Angelo.

Castel Sant'Angelo with close-up of angel, Rome. Bridge of the same name stradles the Tiber River in the foreground.

Prior to 1240 the icon hung over the door to the basilica’s baptistery and was known as the Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven). For the last five hundred years it has been considered a miraculous icon and became associated with the Jesuits’ Sodality of Our Lady movement. Salus Populi Romani is also said to be the source of the title Mater ter Admirabilis (Mother Thrice Admirable) used for the Blessed Virgin Mary  within the Schoenstatt Marian Movement.

We can see that this icon is of the Hodegetria category of Marian icons. The Christ Child holds a book in his left hand and blesses with a raised right hand. He looks at his mother who, in turn, looks out at us. Mary appears rather self assured in this icon and, unlike later versions (after the 10^th century), rests her hands on the child’s knee rather than appearing to point to him. She holds a mappa or mappula in one hand which was a ceremonial napkin type cloth symbolizing consular status and, later, imperial dignity; thus the title, Queen of Heaven –Regina Caeli.

This icon has enjoyed special papal devotion. Pope Pius XII, a native of Rome, celebrated his first Mass in front of this icon. Popes Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI have honored the image with personal visits and liturgical celebrations.

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Resource suggestion:

A History of Icon Painting: Sources, Traditions, Present Day by Lilia Evseyeva, Natalia Komashko, and others; translated by Kate Cook, (Grand-Holding Publishers, Moscow 2007)

Continued from Mother of God Our Lady of the Passion icon

–Click on images for larger, clearer images–

 1                       2                       3

These images have been removed with apologies to Vlad Rogalsky for publishing number 4 without permission.

4                       5                       6

7                      8                       9

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Picture sources:

1. www.iconsexplained.com/

2. The Virgin of the Passion – Sts. Vladimir and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, Winnipeg, MB; icon is displayed over the table for the preparation of the gifts.

3. Icon of Our Lady of the Passion: this icon hangs outside a high school’s main office and is a painted wood carving.

 #s 4-6 images removed

7. Icon, Ank Landwier – Boone Kamp

8. Lost source

9. Anna Terentieva, Iconographer

(also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and Our Lady of Perpetual Help; )

Previously in the series: Mother of God Icons: Virgin of Hodegetria

–Click on image for a larger, clearer display–

Our Lady of the Passion

Ank Landwier – Boonekamp, Iconographer (1944-1993)

“Attired in mortal flesh and fearing fate doth gaze upon them in trepidation”

(Text in the margin of the original archetypal icon.)

This is one of the more traditionally popular images among Catholics of Madonna and Christ Child icons. Depicted is the very human reaction of the child Jesus to a premonition of his passion symbolized by the two angels. In the upper left corner is the Archangel Michael carrying the lance and sponge of the crucifixion of Jesus. In the upper right is the Archangel Gabriel carrying a 3-bar cross, and nails. Jesus has fled to his mother, jumping into her arms; a sandal has fallen off one of his feet. The child looks anxiously at the vision, clasping the hand of his mother with both of his hands. Solemnly, she looks out at us.

Gabriel, who announced and explained the Incarnation to Mary explains the meaning of the cross to her son in this image. His human reaction is to seek comfort and assurance from his mother. Both angels, however, hold the objects of the passion with covered hands, symbolizing that they hold holy things. In a type of time warp, they have retrieved the instruments of torture from Golgotha on Easter morning. The instruments are actually symbolic here of victory over sin.

We can see that this is a variant of the Hodegetria icon except the child looks neither at us or his mother, and he does not hold a book or scroll or raise a hand in blessing as he so often does in the pure Hodegetria type icon. Angelos Akotantos had introduced this Mother of God Passion iconic theme into icon painting on the island of Crete in the second half of the 15^th century. With the fall of Constantinople in 1453 Greek icon painting lost its center, many artists going to Crete which belonged to Venice. In this way these painters got into contact with Western painting and especially Italian influences. Cretan icons were often imported to Europe at that time where they became widely popular among westerners. Italian Andreas Rico and his sons made this image type popular in Europe after producing many copies of the original. Influenced by Western art Mother and Child wear a crown on their heads. Strictly speaking, this is against iconographical principles, which do not admit any distraction of attention from essentials.

The mother renders comfort and protection to her son under the title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help while the title Our Lady of the Passion suggests her own anticipation of suffering and passion in union with her son. She is an example for all of us.

“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38)

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*Image source: Icon

Continued from Cathedral’s Hodegetria sculpture

Let’s take a look at this sculpture and try and answer the two questions I proposed in the last post. The first question addressed the success of the image as a faithful presentation of the Virgin Hodegetria type. The second question –more difficult– asked if the image shows a world that has been restored –does it offer us the hope of divinization?

While gazing at us Mary holds up her baby for us to see. He sits on her right arm while she holds him steady with her left hand. Her left arm and hand act as a visual arrow pointing to the child. The child is shown as the savior of the world –the redeemer– for his arms are outstretched as they will be on the cross, the Christian symbol of redemption. Divinity and holiness are indicated by the traditional halos. The red cross inscribed on the child’s halo makes his identity and sacrificial role clear. The artist has skillfully manipulated the elements of art (line, shape, form, value/tone, color, texture, and space) to indicate the close relationship between mother and child. Notice that the lightest value in the color scheme –the white of the child’s robe and the shoulder veil of the mother–  forms a common ground or field. Squint and you will see what I mean.

Notice also that the artist uses a principle of design, movement, to unify the child with his mother. The movement begins at the child’s right hand, moves across to his left hand, up the veil on the mother’s left side, around and down the head, terminating near the child’s head at the mother’s collar. The halos, not by accident, overlap. The heads of the two incline inward, toward each other. Yes, this image successfully depicts the Hodegetria type Mother of God icon.

But does the image show us a redeemed world? Does it hold out for us the hope of an eschatological perfection? Is Mary represented as she now is in heaven? All Christian liturgical art must represent the world in glory as it will be after the Second Coming of Christ because that is our Christian hope. A world represented as it is, in a fallen state, does not offer us hope but leaves us stuck where we are, without hope.

Let’s see. Notice that Mary’s robe is lined with precious gold while the outer surface is a gorgeous brilliant blue; sacred colors. The gold echoes the gold of her halo. The three colors in this work are intense red, intense yellow and intense blue.  Those three colors are equally spaced on the traditional color wheel. A design that limits itself to three colors equal distant from each other on the wheel is often employed by artists to indicate harmony, balance, well-being and perfection; heavenly peace and serenity.  Also, Mary’s day-to-day clothes were probably relatively rough in texture compared to what we see here. These appear soft, shimmering and comfortably flowing. The significance of the decorative band of Mary’s robe is not lost on us. We see golden lilies which are Mary’s flower of purity and the traditional flower symbolizing the resurrection; resurrection to a life of divinization. The human images here are not realistic but stylized or abstracted to indicate grace and a spiritual otherworldliness. Mary’s glance is a peaceful gaze and not an anxious glare. Her pose is a graceful sway.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners!

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Book suggestions:

Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy by Dennis R. McNamara, (Hillenbrand Books)

Art in Focus by Gene A. Mittler, (Glencoe/McGraw-Hill). This is the best textbook for an introduction to understanding art history, art appreciation and art criticism. It is written for high school students but is terrific for any audience. If you always wanted to learn the basics this is the book for you. The 2000 edition is the one I used with my classes just before I retired but I had used all the earlier editions since it first came out. I have not looked at the 2006 edition. (Get the teacher wrap-around version if available it has even more good information.)