Virgin Mary

Our Lady of Balaam

Our Lady of Balaam was painted in 1878 by an hieromonk called Alypius at the Balaam Monastery of the Transfiguration. Mary stands at full length, on a cloud, holding the Christ Child out in front of ...

Virgin Provider of the Bread of Life

In 1890, Mother Superior Hilaria of the Convent of the Virgin and All Saints in the town of Bolkhov in Oryol Province commissioned an unusual new icon. The work was painted by an hieromonk called Dan...

Our Lady of Yakhren

This image dates from a miracle-working icon of the Mother of God kept at the St Cosmas Monastery of the Dormition near Vladimir. According to legend, the icon miraculously appeared to a monk called ...

Virgin Gorgoepikoos

This rare iconographic type reproduces the original Greek icon of the Virgin Gorgoepikoos (“she who is quick to hear”), which was kept at the Monastery of Docheiariou on Mount Athos in the eleventh a...

Virgin of the Incarnation

The Virgin of the Incarnation is a rare image not often encountered in Old Russian art. Instead of raising her hands in prayer, Mary lets her arms drop beneath her head-veil ( maforia ). Christ’s han...

The Enthroned Virgin

The first images of the Enthroned Virgin were painted in Egypt in the early period of Coptic art. One of the most famous examples is a sixth-century fresco at the Monastery of St Apollo in Bawit. The...

Our Lady of the Dove

The Law of Moses stated that the dove was a “clean” bird to be used in sacrificial offerings. On the fortieth day after the birth of Jesus, Mary went to the temple to offer the traditional sacrifice ...

Our Lady of Kazan

The original icon of Our Lady of Kazan was discovered by a girl called Matryona among ashes in Kazan in 1579, after the city was taken by the forces of Ivan the Terrible. The work later became one of...

Virgin Hodegetria of Tikhvin

The iconography of the Virgin Hodegetria of Tikhvin comes from the Byzantine art of the late fourteenth century. The original icon allegedly disappeared from Constantinople, miraculously reappearing ...

Virgin Hodegetria

The Virgin Hodegetria (Greek: “she who points the way”) is named after the famous Byzantine icon from the Hodegon Monastery in Constantinople. The original image depicted the Mother of God turned tow...

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