Title: The Virgin and Child, Saint John the Baptist and Prophets
Date: c.1325-c.1450
Medium: Tempera and gold leaf on wood panel
Dimensions:
132.5 x 111 cm
Credit Line: Purchased, 1968
Object Number: NGI.1858
DescriptionThe Virgin is in the pose known in the Byzantine tradition as Hodegetria, or Indicator of the Way, that is, holding the Christ Child and pointing to Him.
Of all the images of the Mother and Child, this is the most frequently represented by the Eastern Church because the prototype of this composition was once found in Constantinople and, according to legend, was depicted by St Luke.
In this case the icon appears to have been painted during the Palaeologan dynasty (1261–1453), when the Byzantine capital became once again a major artistic centre and was influential in the development of Italian painting. The Virgin wears the purple maphorion (a mantle with a hood) derived from Byzantine court dress and decorated with gold rosettes, and the Child a gold tunic.
On the originally gilt background are the red letters ‘??F?’ (Mother of God) and on the corners are two small archangels. The small busts of St John the Baptist, at the top, and 12 prophets, around the sides, are later additions, probably carried out in the fifteenth century.
According to William E.D. Allen, the best of whose icon collection was purchased by the Gallery, it had been removed from a monastery at Trabzon in modern Turkey after damage during the first World War.
Of all the images of the Mother and Child, this is the most frequently represented by the Eastern Church because the prototype of this composition was once found in Constantinople and, according to legend, was depicted by St Luke.
In this case the icon appears to have been painted during the Palaeologan dynasty (1261–1453), when the Byzantine capital became once again a major artistic centre and was influential in the development of Italian painting. The Virgin wears the purple maphorion (a mantle with a hood) derived from Byzantine court dress and decorated with gold rosettes, and the Child a gold tunic.
On the originally gilt background are the red letters ‘??F?’ (Mother of God) and on the corners are two small archangels. The small busts of St John the Baptist, at the top, and 12 prophets, around the sides, are later additions, probably carried out in the fifteenth century.
According to William E.D. Allen, the best of whose icon collection was purchased by the Gallery, it had been removed from a monastery at Trabzon in modern Turkey after damage during the first World War.
Label TextThe Virgin Hodegetria (‘One who shows the way’), depicting the Virgin pointing to the Christ Child, was one of the most popular compositions in the Byzantine Church. It traditionally dates back to a picture by Saint Luke. Here the Virgin is depicted as an austere figure, her purple and gold robes reflecting imperial dress. On the margin, twelve Old Testament prophets, with quotations from their books, were added a century later. At the top is Saint John the Baptist, the link to the New Testament.