The Eleusa (or ''Eleousa''; el, Ἐλεούσα – ''tenderness'' or ''showing mercy'') is a type of depiction of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s in which the

Christ Child The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, a ...

is nestled against her cheek. In the Western Church the type is often known as the Virgin of Tenderness.

Depictions

Such icons have been venerated in the Eastern Church for centuries. Similar types of depiction are also found in

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

paintings in the Western Church where they are called the Madonna Eleusa, or the Virgin of Tenderness. By the 19th century examples such as th '' Lady of Refuge'' type (e.g. the ''

Refugium Peccatorum Madonna ''Refugium Peccatorum Madonna'' or the ''Refuge of Sinners Madonna'' is a painting by the Italian artist Luigi Crosio Luigi Crosio (1835–1915) was an Italian painter who lived and worked in Turin, Italy. He died in Turin and is recorded as h ...

'' by

Luigi Crosio Luigi Crosio (1835–1915) was an Italian painter who lived and worked in Turin, Italy. He died in Turin and is recorded as having been born in Alba, but the town of Acqui Terme, a few miles south of Alba, claims Crosio was born there. He attend ...

) were widespread and they were also used in

retablo A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...

s in Mexican art.''Art and faith in Mexico: the nineteenth-century retablo tradition'' by Charles Muir Lovell pages 93–94 In

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first m ...

the term Panagia Eleousa is often used. The Theotokos of Vladimir and

Theotokos of Pochayiv ''Theotokos of Pochayiv'' ( uk, Почаївська ікона Пресвятої Богородиці) is an Eastern Orthodox icon of the Virgin Mary, painted in a late Byzantine style, of the Eleusa iconographic type. Like many famous icons, it ...

are well-known examples of this type of icon. Eleusa is also used as epithet for describing and praising the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

(Virgin Mary) in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. While the Eastern Church does not generally create three-dimensional religious art, Eleusa-style

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

s 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.

Gallery

Eastern icons

File:Vladimirskaya.jpg, Vladimirskaya File:Feodorovskaya ikona so skazaniem.jpg, Fyodorovskaya File:Theotokos of Tolga (fragment).jpg, Tolgskaya File:Feofan Donskaja.jpg, Donskaja

Western icons

File:The Cambrai Madonna.jpg, ''

Cambrai Madonna The ''Cambrai Madonna'', also called the ''Notre-Dame de Grâce'', produced around 1340, is a small Italo-Byzantine, possibly Sienese,Upton (1989), 52 replica of an Eleusa (''Virgin of Tenderness'') icon. The work on which it is based is bel ...

'', Italo-Byzantine, c. 1340,

Cambrai Cathedral Cambrai Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Grâce de Cambrai) is a Catholic church located in Cambrai, Nord, France, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Cambrai. The cathedral was registered as a '' monument historique'' on 9 August ...

File:Angelos Akotantos - Icon of the Mother of God and Infant Christ (Virgin Eleousa) - 2010.154 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif, '' The Virgin Eleousa'', Crete, c. 1425, Cleveland Museum of Art File:Tempi Madonna by Raffaello Sanzio - Alte Pinakothek - Munich - Germany 2017.jpg, '' Tempi Madonna'',

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

, 1508, Alte Pinakothek File:Della-Robbia-Sevilla1.jpg, "Eleusa style"

Relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

by Andrea della Robbia in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

File:Wga Pompeo Batoni Madonna and Child.jpg,

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign visitors tra ...

, c. 1742

Sources

External links