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 of ...

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 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 Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...

for centuries. Similar types of depiction are also found in Madonna paintings in the

Western Church Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...

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. It was painted in 1898. Crosio originally painted the Madonna for the Kuenzil Brothers in Switzerland. In 1964 the Swiss prov ...

'' by Luigi Crosio) 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 Various types of visual arts developed in the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follows the history of Mexico, divided into the prehispanic Mesoamerican era, the colonial period, with the period after ...

.''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 Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

the term Panagia Eleousa is often used. The

Theotokos of Vladimir , other_title_1 = Our Lady of Vladimir , other_language_2 = uk, Вишгородська ікона Божої Матері , other_title_2 = Vyshgorod Mother of God , wikidata = Q546241 , image = Virgin of Vladimir.jpg , image_upright = 1 ...

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

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 th ...

s and sculptures, as well as icons, have also been used in the Western Church. The

Pelagonitissa The Pelagonitissa (also known as "The Virgin with the Playing Child") is a type of depiction of the Virgin Mary (often in icons) in which the Virgin holds an infant Jesus in an abrupt movement, his head back and grabbing onto her. Pelagonitissa wa ...

is a variant in which the infant Jesus makes an abrupt movement.

Gallery

Eastern icons

File:Vladimirskaya.jpg,

Vladimirskaya Vladimirsky (masculine), Vladimirskaya (feminine), Vladimirskoye (neuter) or variant spellings may refer to: Buildings * Vladimir Palace (''Vladimirsky dvorets''), an imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia *Vladimirskaya (Saint Petersburg Met ...

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 ''The Virgin Eleousa'' is a tempera painting attributed to Angelos Akotantos. Angelos Akotantos was a Greek painter active on the island of Crete during the first half of the 15th century. He is considered one of the founding members of the Creta ...

'', Crete, c. 1425,

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...

File:Tempi Madonna by Raffaello Sanzio - Alte Pinakothek - Munich - Germany 2017.jpg, ''

Tempi Madonna The ''Tempi Madonna'' is an oil painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael. Painted for the Tempi family, it was bought by Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1829. It is housed in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. It is thought to have been made i ...

'',

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. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

, 1508,

Alte Pinakothek The Alte Pinakothek (, ''Old Pinakothek'') is an art museum located in the Kunstareal area in Munich, Germany. It is one of the oldest galleries in the world and houses a significant collection of Old Master paintings. The name Alte (Old) Pi ...

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 th ...

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