Mary icon
An icon of Mary is an image of a saint with a representation of the Mother of God Mary . Along with those of Jesus Christ, depictions of the Mother of God are probably the most common motif in icon painting . Since the worship of the Mother of God is always related to Christ, Mary is usually represented on icons with the Christ child. The maphorion with which she is clothed is adorned with three golden stars , one on her forehead and one on her shoulders; they symbolize the virginity of Mary before, during and after the birth.
Iconographic types
There are around 400 different icons of the Blessed Mother. Originally, however, there were mainly three different iconographies:
- die Hodegetria , the signpost (Aristerokratusa, with a child on her left arm)
- the Blacherniotissa or intercessory, praying Madonna
- the Nicopoia (the "victory-bringing"; also: o Nikopea, Nikopeia, Nicopeia)
Variants of the Hodegetria (Aristerokratusa) are:
- die Hodegetria Dexiokratusa (with child on right arm)
- the Tricheirousa ("three-handed")
Variants of the blacherniotissa are:
Important iconographic types with numerous mixed types and variants are according to the type of representation:
- the Eleusa (Erbarmerin, Wistful, Barmherzige)
- the Glykophilusa (tender, sweet kisser; partly synonymous with Elëusa)
- the Kyriotissa (Mother of the Lord)
- the psychosostria (soul savior)
- the Galaktotrophousa (Maria lactans; nursing Maria, who is usually depicted as a half figure)
- the Paraklesis (representation of Mary without child; as an attribute she holds a scroll)
- the Pelagonitissa (depiction of Mary with child Jesus playing)
There are also smaller types such as B. the protective mantle Madonna or the icons named after certain places or monasteries.
Well-known icons
Pre-iconoclastic Marian icons on Sinai
Some pre-iconoclastic Marian icons from the 5th to 7th centuries are in the collection of St. Catherine's Monastery on Sinai, which were still painted in an encaustic style. One of them is to be ascribed to the icon type of the Blessed Mother as Nicopoia (the one who brings victory), who is also called "Hope of all" here.
Ancient Marian icons in Rome
The oldest icon of Mary in Rome is the Maria Advocata , painted using the encaustic technique , which is believed to have originated in the Syropalestinian region of the 6th century or earlier. In Santa Francesca Romana in Rome there is an icon of Mary that is ascribed to the 7th century.
According to tradition , an ancient icon of the Virgin Mary painted by the Evangelist Luke was probably saved from iconoclasm like many other icons in the course of the 8th century and brought to Italy. At least the Patriarch Germanos reports how an icon of Mary came to Rome by water. It is kept in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and venerated by the Roman population as "Maria la romana" (Maria, the Roman woman) and Salus Populi Romani (salvation of the Roman people).
More Lucanian icons of Mary
According to the archetype of the Mother of God, which according to the pious legend the Evangelist Luke should have painted, are u. a. the following Marian icons named:
- Freising picture of Luke in the Diocesan Museum Freising (made around 1000)
- Icon in the Kykkos monastery in Cyprus (discovered around 1080)
- Icon in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Malta (uncertain: 15th century)
- Icon in the pilgrimage church of Panagia Evangelista on Tinos (discovered in 1822)
- Icon in the Panagia Soumela church in Kastania-Veria, Northern Greece
Icon of Mary from Morsbach
An old icon of Mary called Panagia skopiotissa (the all saint of Mount Skopos) was found in a Cologne antiquarian bookstore in 1933 and is now in a chapel of St. Gertrud's Church in Morsbach . Presumably it comes from the 13th century from the local Marian monastery near Mount Skopos on the island of Zakynthos .
Icon of Mary of the Redemptorists
Also known is the Redemptorist icon of Mary , the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help . It probably originated in the late 14th century on the island of Crete and then came to Rome. There she was in 1866 by Pope Pius IX. entrusted to the Congregation of Redemptorists and is located in the Church of the Savior and Saint Alfonso Liguori . The image has spread in numerous copies through the missionary activity of the Order.
Five fields icon of Mary
The so-called five -field icon dates from around 1800 : Our Lady of the Tolga; Our Lady, soothe my sorrow; Our Lady, who softens hard hearts; Mother of God, seeking out the abandoned. In the middle, the Mother of God of Unexpected Joy.
Icon of Mary by John Paul II
A copy of the icon of Mary, Salus Populi Romani , 118 cm high and 79 cm wide , which Pope John Paul II gave to young people of the world for the 18th birthday, made famous through the World Youth Days . World Youth Day in Rome. Together with the World Youth Day Cross , the icon is out and about in the run-up to a World Youth Day, especially in the host country. Therefore, from Palm Sunday 2003 to August 2005, she was on her way through Europe and especially through Germany. On Palm Sunday 2006 it was presented together with the cross in Rome to Australian youth, where World Youth Day 2008 took place in Sydney . In the run-up to this, she traveled through Africa for the first time, then through Southeast Asia and Oceania. From Palm Sunday 2009, the icon was together with the World Youth Day Cross on the journey through Spain, where the World Youth Day in Madrid 2011 took place.
Icon of Mary in Taizé
The icon of Mary in Taizé was painted by Frère Éric de Saussure and blessed by the Leningrad Metropolitan Nikodim during a visit to the Taizé Community in 1962 . It depicts Our Lady as a merciful woman ( Elëusa , Greek Eleousa , Russian Umilenye ). She is also known as the Mother of God of Vladimir . The original icon of this type was painted in Constantinople for Prince Isjaslav of Kiev and given to him as a present by the emperor in 1132. In 1155, however, she was kidnapped by Prince Boguljubskij to Vladimir and brought from there to Moscow in 1315. Since she was ascribed the liberation from the Mongols under Tamerlane , she was made the patroness of the Russian Empire.
Our Lady of Kazan
The miraculous image known as the “Kazan Mother of God” also has an eventful history. It originated in the 16th century, was later stolen and probably destroyed, but survives in several copies.
Remarks
- ↑ Lorenzo Ceolin: L'iconografia dell'immagine della madonna . Storia e Letteratura, Rome 2005, ISBN 88-8498-155-7 , p. 5 (Italian, online version in Google Book Search).
- ↑ Blacherniotissa. In: Beyars.com. Retrieved August 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Icons of the Mother of God. (PDF) p. 1 , accessed on March 11, 2018 .
- ↑ Reminder to renounce: Pope opens Holy Week and hands over the World Youth Day Cross. Retrieved March 11, 2018 .
literature
- Niketas Mitropulos, Boris Rothemund: Marienikonen . Buch-Kunstverlag, Ettal 1964.
- Andreas Ebbinghaus: The old Russian legend of the icon of Mary . Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1990.
