Virgin Hodegetria, Late 19th century

Egg tempera on panel and gold leaf

Height x width: 35.5 x 31 cm

"She who shows the way," according to Byzantine tradition. The Madonna is depicted from the waist up, her expression serious and her gaze—tinged with melancholy—directed toward the viewer, while her head inclines slightly toward the Child Jesus, whom she supports on her left arm. With her right hand, Mary performs the ritual gesture of pointing toward her Son, offering Him to humanity as the path to Salvation. The Christ Child is shown upright, wearing a greenish-blue tunic and a fully gilded mantle that wraps around His figure down to His legs. With His right hand raised, the Child bestows a blessing, while in His left, He holds a rolled-up parchment—a symbol of the divine Word. The richly decorated gold background features, on the left side, a cartouche with an inscription in Cyrillic characters that identifies the figure of Mary; nearby, the traditional sacred monograms—placed close to the haloes—serve to identify the divine figures.