Eleusa icon
Icon type with the Child pressing cheek of Mary
The Eleusa (or Eleousa; Greek: Ἐλεούσα, tenderness or showing mercy) is a type of depiction of the Virgin Mary in icons in which the Christ Child is nestled against her cheek. In the Western Church the type is often known as the Virgin of Tenderness.
01Depictions
Such icons have been venerated in the Eastern Church for centuries. Similar types of depiction are also found in Madonna paintings in the Western Church where they are called the Madonna Eleusa, or the Virgin of Tenderness. By the 19th century examples such as the Lady of Refuge type (e.g. the Refugium Peccatorum Madonna by Luigi Crosio) were widespread and they were also used in retablos in Mexican art.
In Eastern Orthodoxy the term Panagia Eleousa is often used. The Theotokos of Vladimir and Theotokos of Pochayiv are well-known examples of this type of icon. Eleusa is also used as epithet for describing and praising the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.
While the Eastern Church does not generally create three-dimensional religious art, Eleusa-style reliefs and sculptures, as well as icons, have also been used in the Western Church.
The Pelagonitissa is a variant in which the infant Jesus makes an abrupt movement.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Eleusa icon”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- MCB-mosaicob.jpg by Ricardo André Frantz (User:Tetraktys), CC BY-SA 3.0
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