| |
In the West, the icon of the Mother of God of Tenderness
(Virgin of Tenderness), is almost always equated with the icon of the Mother of
God of Vladimir (Virgin of Vladimir), the treasure of Russia and one of
Russia's most venerated icons. It is also referred to as Our Lady of
Tenderness, or as the Mother of God Eleousa (Virgin Eleousa). However,
«Tenderness» is not a strict translation of the Greek name
«Eleousa», because «Eleousa» means «the Merciful». That's why, in Russia, starting in
the XVIth Century, icons of the Mother of God of Tenderness are named
Oumilenie, i.e. «of affectionate
Tenderness» (Cf.
Marian
Icons ; if the link fails, you can go there in 2 steps: first
Byzantine Icons by
Subject, then
Marian
Icons).
Even though in both cases (Eleousa and Oumilenie) the faces of
Mother and Child are touching affectionately, Eleousa and Oumilenie express two
different aspects of the icon of the Mother of God: Eleousa refers to
the virtue of Mary, mercy, Oumilenie refers to the sentiment experienced
by the Child, following the intervention of his Mother, of affectionate
Tenderness. The name Eleousa pertains directly to the Mother, whereas the name
Oumilenie pertains to the Child.
With regard to the Mother of God Glykophilousa (Virgin
Glykophilousa), she can be considered a more accentuated Eleousa type. In the
English language «Glykophilousa» is referred to as the Mother of
God Sweet Kissing, or as the Mother of God of
Loving Kindness (Virgin of Loving Kindness) : in
the Eleousa (Tenderness or Merciful), the Mother simply
accepts the signs of affection demonstrated by the Child, while she is
sometimes looking elsewhere. In the Glykophilousa, however, the Virgin Mother
is actually caressing the Child. Summing it up we could say that the
Eleousa-type can be thought of as to comprise 3 sub-types: the Merciful (Greek:
Eleousa), affectionate Tenderness (Russian: Oumilenie), and Sweet Kissing
(Greek: Glykophilousa).
Bibl.: Maria Donadeo, Icônes de la Mère de
Dieu, Éditions Médiaspaul, Paris, 1987; Egon Sendler, Les
icônes byzantines de la Mère de Dieu, Desclée de
Brouwer, Paris, 1992.
|
|
