Collection Name : Holy Metropolis of Limnos and Ag. Eustratios
Type : Icon
Year : 17th century
Place : Limnos
Dimension : 71x52x3.2
Current Place : Saint Demetrius church – Kontia
Description : Virgin Mary is depicted from the waist up, holding the Christ Child on her left arm in the type of Hodegetria, slightly inclined her head towards the Christ Child .Her right hand is raised in front of her chest presenting the Christ Child. She wears a wine-red color maphorion rich is gold striations and her tunic is in the traditional green color. Virgin’s maphorion is embellished with the traditional star shape ornaments (over her head and shoulders) and hemmed by a light-brown band highlighted in gold. Christ is clad in a bluish chiton ornamented with geometrical ochre- color lineaments and rich in gold striations. He is holding a closed scroll with his right hand while his left is touching Virgins head. The figures are portrayed against a bluish-green background and the panel is hollowed out so as to form a raised boarder. The nimbus of the Virgin and Christ Child are made of silver and engraved with geometrical and floral motifs. Certain iconographic details affiliates the portrayal of the figures to the greater Macedonian area, while mutual artistic characteristics can be found to the icon of the Virgin Mary ‘Hodegria’ that belongs to the Pantocrator Monastery, and it is dated in the mid-15th century. The iconographic characteristics of the icon convey similarities with the artistic trends that prevailed around the 17th century.
