[squicscor]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction about an icon I am looking for.

It is Mother Mary and baby Jesus, with two angels on either h side. The Angel on the right is holding a cross and the one on the left is holding a spear and I think a hammer. They are up high. Panagia has a crown on her head and Jesus with jewels.

If anyone can help me and I know that Olga is an expert in Icons.

I have been searching for this icon on the internet but cant find it.

Many thanks everyone!

[JosephEL]

This is the icon Mother of God of the Passion, also known by its Greek name Amolyntos, or its Slavonic name Strastnaya. It is a very common type. In the Roman Catholic church, this icon is known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and there would be hardly a Roman Catholic church in the world which does not have this icon displayed, even if all the other religious art within is either statues or non-iconographic paintings.

Here is an early and beautiful example:




As we can see, the Child is holding His mother's hands, but His gaze is turned towards the angel on the right. One angel is holding a cross, the other angel is holding a lance/spear, and a rod on the end of which is fixed a sponge. The cross, lance and reed with sponge are, of course, the instruments of Christ's crucifixion, hence the name of the icon in English and Slavonic. The sandal on the Child's right foot is untied and dangling, with the sole of the foot turned towards the viewer. This refers to Genesis 3:15 : And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall be on guard for His heel.”

This passage refers to God condemning the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve which led to the Fall. The display of the Child's heel while being held by His Mother beautifully illustrates the fulfilment of this prophecy: The disobedience of Eve has been annulled by the obedience of the Virgin to God in accepting the words of the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation. The Child from her seed, the incarnate God, has destroyed death by His death and Resurrection. Put another way, in 1 John 3:8 : He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Regarding the crown on the Mother of God and jewels on the Child:

It is a Roman Catholic custom to place a silver or gold crown on the head of images (icons, paintings, or statues) of the Mother of God, as an act of special veneration. This custom (as a formal liturgical practice within the RCC) dates to roughly the late 16th-early 17thC. The sentiment behind it is similar to the custom in the Orthodox world of cloaking an icon with an embossed and often jewel-studded silver or gold cover (riza, oklad), with only the hands and faces of the subject(s) of the icon showing as an act of piety. Naturally, because of the very strong western influences on the Orthodox at the time, icons of the Mother of God with crowns (painted or metal) became more commonplace.

[RobsShow]

Thanks Olga. That is a beautiful one, but not the one I was after. The one I was looking for is more blue and red. I heared that it was painted a very long time ago perhaps in Mount Athos?

[bs44MhUW]

Do you mean that the Virgin's outer robe is blue, and her inner garment red?

[Muhabsssa]

Yes. With a star on her red robe blue on the inside and a little green petruding around the edges. Her blue robe has like stars?

[mas-dkt-sive]

This would make the image one from Roman Catholic tradition. In their tradition, the colours of the Mother of God's garments are blue over red. The green lining is another detail not usually found in older (pre-17thC) Orthodox icons; in RC tradition, the green colour represents the Holy Spirit. The stars on her outer garment (called the maphorion) on her head, and on each shoulder, represent the dogma of the perpetual virginity of the Mother of God: Virgin before, during and after giving birth to Christ. In Orthodox iconography, this detail is as necessary as the MP-ΘY inscription, both of which proclaim her to be Theotokos, truly the Mother of God and ever-Virgin.

It seems the composition you are describing is based on the Our Lady of Perpetual Help of the 15th century:

[BloofPailafum]

Thanks Olga, but its actually an orthodox icon. Mother Mary has red and blue inside. She has crowns with rubies etc and so does Jesus. The background of the icon is blue.

It is very similar this icon above , but with the crowns and Jesus is looking straight.

[pipitous]

I'm not sure what you mean by "Jesus is looking straight". Do you mean that He is looking straight ahead, as if looking at the viewer of the icon?

[evennyNiz]

Yes. Looking straight at us.

[Sarbrienna]

In all the Of the Passion icons, and even in all versions of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the Christ-child is always looking up at the angel over His shoulder. He is never shown looking straight ahead at the viewer.

Why is He looking away like this? Being the all-knowing Son of God, He looks at the angel in anticipation of His future suffering and death. He holds His mother's hand, not so much as a small, frightened child does, but in a gesture of consolation and comfort to His mother. This well-known hymn, the eirmos of ode 9 of the Canon at Matins of Holy Saturday (written by St Kassiane the Hymnographer), expresses it well:

Weep not for Me, Mother, as you behold Me in the grave,
The Son you conceived without seed in your womb.
For I shall rise and be glorified, and as God I shall raise to eternal glory
Those who magnify you with faith and love.

For the Child to be looking towards the viewer in such an icon deprives the icon of much of its meaning.

You might say, perhaps the icon you're looking for is not Of the Passion. I can say with great certainty that the motifs of the angels holding the cross, lance and reed are only found in the Of the Passion icon.

[Voliscietle]

Thanks Olga for your help. Perhaps it is hard to get, but it is definatly an orthodox icon.

[Sarah Armstrong]

Where did you see it?

[AccusaJalsBub]

I have seen this icon in orthodox bookshops

[YmolafBp]

I have just checked my archive which has close to a thousand icons of the Mother of God. There are several dozen icons which show two angels in the upper corners of the icon, and the Mother of God and Child in a variety of inclinations, half-stature as well as enthroned. In none of these are the angels holding anything, in fact, their hands are covered by their garments, their arms stretched forth in supplication to her and her Child. And the only ones which show the angels with the instruments of the Passion all show the Child looking away from His mother, and up at the angel in the right-hand corner.

Are there any other features or details in the icon you're after which might shed some light on its identity?

[Beragagnu]

Thanks Olga for all your research. If it is Gods will I shall find it.