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The Mother of God in her iconographic depiction of Blachernitissa (of Blachernae) is associated with the miraculous icon of the Virgin in the Blachernae church in Constantinople; in this icon, she stands between Moses and High Priest Euthymius II, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who passed away in Sinai in 1224. The significance of this particular composition is revealed in the verses of two troparia (short hymns), written along the border, that refer to the Incarnation. The figure of Christ, hovering before the Mother of God, also refers to the mystery of the Incarnation. An inscription around the feet of the Virgin informs us of the name of the painter, Peter.

The artistic style of this icon is rather conservative. The figures are schematic and somewhat subdued, except of the face of the Patriarch.


Tempera on wood
c. 1224
44,4 Χ 36,5 cm

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