More than a Christmas Card
Weird or wonderful? Is this famous Byzantine Icon just a poorly painted throwback or simply way ahead of its time?
The Virgin Eleousa of Vladimir was painted in the early 1100s and it’s one of the most famous, and most copied, Christian icons depicting the subject of the Holy Mother and Child. It originated in Constantinople, then the capital of the Byzantine Empire. In the 1130s it was gifted by the Church to Yuri Dolgorukiy, a Grand Prince of Russia. It was displayed in the city of Vladimir from 1155 until 1395 when it was moved to Moscow.
Moscow had been under Tartar oppression for 17 years, yet on the day that the icon arrived in the city, they withdrew and ended the siege. The icon was given credit for this and was proclaimed to be “the protector of Russia”, becoming the most venerated icon of the Orthodox Russian Church.
This is a clear example of the great cultural significance that can be generated by a single piece of art, and also how art embodies and perpetuates the ideals of the culture that values it. It is the concept behind a work that gives it value beyond its material worth.
This artefact has certainly done its job as an icon! It’s worshipped for what it represents and many people are profoundly moved in its presence. It became a…
