Eleusa icon

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.^[1] In the Western Church the type is often known as the Virgin of Tenderness.

13th-century Byzantine Eleusa mosaic, Athens

Depictions

Such icons have been venerated in the Eastern Church for centuries.^[2] Similar types of depiction are also found in Madonna paintings in the Western Church where they are called the Madonna Eleusa,^[3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5]

Gallery

Eastern icons

Western icons

Cambrai Madonna, Italo-Byzantine, c. 1340, Cambrai Cathedral
The Virgin Eleousa, Crete, c. 1425, Cleveland Museum of Art
Tempi Madonna, Raphael, 1508, Alte Pinakothek
"Eleusa style" Relief by Andrea della Robbia in Seville
Pompeo Batoni, c. 1742

Sources

^ The icon handbook: a guide to understanding icons and the liturgy by David Coomler 1995 ISBN 0-87243-210-6 page 203
^ The Meaning of Icons, by Vladimir Lossky with Léonid Ouspensky, SVS Press, 1999. ISBN 0-913836-99-0 page 85
^ The era of Michelangelo: masterpieces from the Albertina by Achim Gnann 2004 ISBN 88-370-2755-9 page 54
^ Art and faith in Mexico: the nineteenth-century retablo tradition by Charles Muir Lovell. ISBN 0-8263-2324-3. pp. 93–94.
^ Tradigo, Alfredo (2004). Icons And Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Getty Publications. p. 180. ISBN 9780892368457.

External links

Byzantium: faith and power (1261–1557), an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Eleusa icons

[1] The icon handbook: a guide to understanding icons and the liturgy by David Coomler 1995 ISBN 0-87243-210-6 page 203

[2] The Meaning of Icons, by Vladimir Lossky with Léonid Ouspensky, SVS Press, 1999. ISBN 0-913836-99-0 page 85

[3] The era of Michelangelo: masterpieces from the Albertina by Achim Gnann 2004 ISBN 88-370-2755-9 page 54

[4] Art and faith in Mexico: the nineteenth-century retablo tradition by Charles Muir Lovell. ISBN 0-8263-2324-3. pp. 93–94.

[Tradigo-5] Tradigo, Alfredo (2004). Icons And Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Getty Publications. p. 180. ISBN 9780892368457.

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