Hodegetria

Version of the Theotokos of Smolensk by Dionisius (c. 1500)

12th-century plaque found in Torcello Cathedral; a full-length figure like the original in Constantinople

A Hodegetria,^[a] or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) holding the Child Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of salvation for mankind. The Virgin's head usually inclines towards the child, who raises his hand in a blessing gesture. Metals are often used to draw attention to young Christ, reflecting light and shining in a way to embody divinity.^[1] In the Western Church this type of icon is sometimes called Our Lady of the Way.

The most venerated icon of the Hodegetria type, regarded as the original, was displayed in the Monastery of the Panaghia Hodegetria in Constantinople, which was built specially to contain it. The painting became known as the Madonna of Constantinople. Unlike most later copies it showed the Theotokos standing full-length. It was said to have been brought back from the Holy Land by Eudocia, the wife of emperor Theodosius II (408–450), and to have been painted by Saint Luke the evangelist, the attributed author of the Gospel of Luke.^[2] The icon was double-sided,^[3] with a crucifixion on the other side, and was "perhaps the most prominent cult object in Byzantium".^[4]

The original icon has probably now been lost, although various traditions claim that it was carried to Russia or Italy. There are a great number of copies of the image, including many of the most venerated of Russian icons, which have themselves acquired their own status and tradition of copying.

Madonna of Constantinople

Vasari and Saint Luke painting the Virgin Mary

Madonna of Constantinople was a sacred painting or icon of the Virgin and Child allegedly painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist. It is a Marian title. It became widely used as an alternate title for the Virgin Mary. A similar name is Our Lady of Constantinople. The original painting was in the form of the Virgin Hodegetria or Odigetria. The icon obtained its name from Hodegon Monastery. According to tradition, the icon was held at the sacred monastery in Constantinople. This relic was brought from Antioch, according to Xanthopoulos. The sacred painting became a legendary symbol of the faith. The name of the icon became Madonna of Constantinople. Legend states that the sacred painting healed the blind and the sick. Every Tuesday, a ritual was performed in Constantinople featuring the sacred icon. The ritual became known as the flying Virgin. The theme became very popular and was mass-produced in Constantinople and Thessaloniki. Countless Italian painters used the theme to create marvelous paintings of the Madonna and Child. After the fall of Constantinople, mass production moved to the island of Crete. Countless churches, statues, and paintings bear the name Madonna of Constantinople. The name Odigitria was shortened in Italy to Itria [it]. The name represents the Madonna of Constantinople.^[5][6][7][8]

Luke painting the Virgin

Luke the Evangelist was a physician and artist. He was one of the disciples of Paul the Apostle. The earliest mention of Saint Luke's painting was around the 5th century. Empress Eudokia gave the sacred icon to her sister-in-law Pulcheria the relic was brought from Antioch. The painting was then housed at the Hodegon Monastery. It stayed at the monastery. Two important cultural sociological systems developed from devotion to the sacred image in Constantinpoli. A term known as the flying hodegetria developed. Basically, a group of people carried the icon around the city in a procession. Onlookers saw the sacred painting floating in the air and the term flying hodegetria developed. A ritual in the city was performed every Tuesday. According to eyewitness accounts, young men wearing red vestments carried the image around the city every Tuesday. The carriers of the Madonna of Constantinopli claimed ancestral lineage to Luke the Evangelist.^[9][10][11]

Hodegetria 1315

Historians believe the ritual began sometime around the 7th century. The ritual began after the Siege of Constantinople in 626. The Byzantines were successful in protecting the city. The painting became a symbol of protection for the city. Theodore Synkellos delivered a sermon at the first celebration around 627. Tuesday commemorated the event and the Hodegetria rite began.^[12][13]

According to legend, the Madonna of Constantinople was thrown into the sea during iconoclasm about 100 years later. In the year 717, it washed up on the shore of Istria after 54 days and it was returned to the Hodegon Monastery.^[14] The weekly Tuesday rite continued. The name of the icon was Panagia Hodegetria, translated to She who shows the Way. According to legend, the painting was said to be the source of miracles. The Virgin Mary appeared to two blind people and guided them to the sacred image. There she restored their vision.^[15] On the island of Crete in the 10th century a church was erected in honor of the sacred icon called Panagia Hodegetria.

After the Fourth Crusade, from 1204 to 1261, it was moved to the Monastery of the Pantocrator, which had become the cathedral of the Venetian see during the period of Frankish rule, and since none of the illustrations of the shrine at the Hodegetria Monastery predate this interlude, the shrine may have been created after its return.^[16]

There are a number of accounts of the weekly display, the two most detailed by Spaniards:

Every Tuesday twenty men come to the church of Maria Hodegetria; they wear long red linen garments,^[17] covering up their heads like stalking clothes […] there is a great procession and the men clad in red go one by one up to the icon; the one with whom the icon is pleased is able to take it up as if it weighed almost nothing. He places it on his shoulder, and they go chanting out of the church to a great square, where the bearer of the icon walks with it from one side to the other, going fifty times around the square. When he sets it down, then others take it up in turn.^[18]

Another account says the bearers staggered around the crowd, the icon seeming to lurch towards onlookers, who were then considered blessed by the Virgin. Clergy touched pieces of cotton wool to the icon and handed them out to the crowd. A wall-painting in a church near Arta in Greece shows a great crowd watching such a display, whilst a street-market for unconcerned locals continues in the foreground.^[19]

Madonna of Constantinople by Angelos Pitzamanos ce. 1500 and 1535

The Hamilton Psalter picture of the shrine in the monastery appears to show the icon behind a golden screen of large mesh, mounted on brackets rising from a four-sided pyramidal base, like many large medieval lecterns. The heads of the red-robed attendants are level with the bottom frame of the icon.^[20]

The icon disappeared during the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 when it was deposited at the Chora Church. It may have been cut into four pieces.^[21]

Madonna of Constantinople or Hodegetria was also venerated in parts of Italy. After the city fell in 1453, the ritual continued in Southern Italy. The first important sociological system was the cult following in Italy, developed around worshipping the Madonna of Constantinople or Odigetria. The name has been used on churches, paintings, and statues. The second important sociological system developed was a variation of the flying Virgin ritual performed on August 15 during the Assumption of Mary. A sacred painting or icon is carried around city streets to venerate the Virgin Mary. The names Madonna of Constantinople and Hodegetria became synonymous, and it was used to name paintings, churches, and statues. It spread throughout the Greek, Italian, and Russian world.^[22][23]

Spread of the image

Italo-Byzantine Hodegetria by Berlinghiero of Lucca, (c. 1230) shows the Byzantine influence on Italian 13th-century art

In the 10th century, after the period of iconoclasm in Byzantine art, this image became more widely used, possibly developing from an earlier type where the Virgin's right hand was on Christ's knee.^[24] An example of this earlier type is the Salus Populi Romani icon in Rome. Many versions carry the inscription "Hodegetria" in the background and in the Byzantine context "only these named versions were understood by their medieval audience as conscious copies of the original Hodegetria in the Hodegon monastery", according to Maria Vasilakē.^[25]

Full-length versions, both probably made by Greek artists, appear in mosaic in Torcello Cathedral (12th century) and the Cappella Palatina, Palermo (c. 1150), this last with the "Hodegetria" inscription.^[26]

From the Hodegetria developed the Panagia Eleousa (Virgin of Tender Mercy), where Mary still indicates Christ, but he is nuzzling her cheek, which she slightly inclines towards him; famous versions include the Theotokos of Vladimir and the Theotokos of St. Theodore. Usually Christ is on the left in these images.

Hodegetria of Smolensk

Main article: Virgin of Smolensk

The shrine of the Hodegetria in Smolensk, as photographed by Prokudin-Gorsky in 1912.

Some Russians, however, believe that after the fall of Constantinople, St. Luke's icon surfaced in Russia, where it was placed in the Assumption Cathedral in Smolensk, Russia. On several occasions, it was brought with great ceremony to Moscow, where the Novodevichy Convent was built in her honour. Her feast day is August 10.

This icon, dated by art historians to the 11th century, is believed to have been destroyed by fire during the German occupation of Smolensk in 1941. A number of churches all over Russia are dedicated to the Smolensk Hodegetria, e.g., the Smolensky Cemetery Church in St. Petersburg and the Odigitrievsky Cathedral in Ulan-Ude. They may refer to the Theotokos as "Our Lady of Smolensk."

Italian tradition

An Italian tradition relates that the original icon of Mary attributed to Luke, sent by Eudocia to Pulcheria from Palestine, was a large circular icon only of her head. When the icon arrived in Constantinople, it was fitted in as the head in a very large rectangular icon of Mary holding the Christ child; it is this composite icon that became the one historically known as the Hodegetria. Another tradition states that when the last Latin Emperor of Constantinople, Baldwin II, fled Constantinople in 1261, he took this original circular portion of the icon with him. It remained in the possession of the Angevin dynasty, who likewise had it inserted into a larger image of Mary and the Christ child, which is presently enshrined above the high altar of the Benedictine Abbey church of Montevergine.^[27][28] Unfortunately, over the centuries this icon has been subjected to repeated repainting, so that it is difficult to determine what the original image of Mary's face would have looked like. However, Guarducci also claims that in 1950 an ancient image of Mary^[29] at the Church of Santa Francesca Romana was determined to be a very exact, but reverse mirror image of the original circular icon that was made in the 5th century and brought to Rome, where it has remained until the present.^[30]

An Italian "original" icon of the Hodegetria in Rome features in the crime novel Death and Restoration (1996) by Iain Pears, in the Jonathan Argyll series of art history mysteries.

It gives its name to the church of Santa Maria Odigitria al Tritone in Rome.

The Italian tradition spread also to Malta in the sixteenth century and the Chapel of Our Lady of Itria is dedicated to the Hodegetria.^[31]

Position Variations

Position Variations

The Mother of God of Passion by Andreas Ritzos c. 1490, Hodegetria looking Away from Virgin

Virgin Hodegetria by Michael Damaskinos c. 1550-1593, Hodegetria looking at the Viewer

Virgin and Child by Theophanes the Cretan c. 1520, Hodegetria looking at the Virgin

Madre della Consolazione by Nikolaos Tzafouris c. 1490, Hodegetria Child Held on Right Side of Virgin

Nikopoios Position

Throughout the years, the position of the Christ Child has changed. The Hodegetria position is considered the first and possibly the original style attributed to Luke. There are several variations of the position. The Christ Child is on her left arm. In one version, the Christ Child looks away from the Virgin Mary. In a second version, he looks at the viewer. In the third and final version, he looks toward the Virgin Mary. In some versions, the child is on her right arm. Throughout history, there have been variations of the position.

The position is known as Our Lady of the Sign, Nikopoios, Platitera, and in Italian Nostra Signora del Segno was also popular. The Virgin Mary holds the Christ Child in her lap, and he is looking at the viewer. The Christ Child is in the center. The position is very common in early Greek-Italian Byzantine art. The position was typically painted on the dome of early churches. Another version is known as the Glykophilousa (Virgin of the Sweet Kiss), Eleusa Virgin (Virgin of Compassion), and Pelagonitissa (Playing child) are interchanged.

Gallery

Eastern church

• 
  Full-length mosaic by Greek artists, Torcello, 12th century
• 
  The Theotokos of Tikhvin (c. 1300)
• 
  The Theotokos of Perivleptos (c. 1350)
• 
  The Theotokos of the Passion (17th century)
• 
  Christodoulos Kalergis (18th century)

Western church

• 
  Mother of Perpetual Help
• 
  Duccio, 1284
• 
  Dietisalvi di Speme
• 
  Guido da Siena
• 
  Black Madonna of Częstochowa

Honoring the Hodegetria or Madonna of Constantinople

Churches

Crete, Greece

• Panagia Hodegetria

Apulia, Italy

• Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Cerignola)‎
• Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Giovinazzo)‎
• Madonna di Costantinopoli (Marittima, Diso)‎
• Madonna dell'Idri (Nociglia)‎
• Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (San Severo)‎

Calabria, Italy

• Maria Santissima di Costantinopoli (Rende, Italy)‎
• Santa Maria dell'Itria (Reggio Calabria)‎

Campania, Italy

• Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Angri)‎
• Chiesa di Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Cerreto Sannita)‎
• Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Faicchio)‎
• Chiesa di Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Foglianise)‎
• Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Ischia)‎
• Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Naples)‎
• Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Sant'Agata de' Goti)‎
• Santa Maria di Costantinopoli (Torre del Greco)‎

Sicily, Italy

• Santa Maria d'Itria (Cefalù)‎
• Chiesa dell'Itria (Castelbuono)‎
• Chiesa dell'Itria (Favara)‎
• Madonna dell'Itria (Paternò)‎
• Santa Maria dell'Itria (Ragusa)‎
• Santa Maria d'Itria (Sant'Angelo Muxaro)‎
• Santa Maria d'Itria (Niscemi)‎
• Santa Maria dell'Itria (Marsala)‎
• Santa Maria dell'Itria (Milazzo)‎
• Santa Maria dell'Itria (Palermo)‎
• Santa Maria dell'Itria (Trapani)‎

Statues

• 
  Madonna di Costantinopoli
• 
  Maria SS di Costantinopoli
• 
  Madonna di Costantinopoli
• 
  Santa Maria di Costantinopoli
• 
  Maria di Costantinopoli
• 
  Maria di Costantinopoli

Paintings

• 
  Madonna di Costantinopoli Ricca
• 
  Madonna di Costantinopoli
• 
  Madonna di Costantinopoli
• 
  Madonna di Costantinopoli
• 
  Madonna di Costantinopoli ZT
• 
  Madonna di Costantinopoli Bizamanus
• 
  Santa Maria di Costantinopoli

See also

• Mary, mother of Jesus
• Panagia Ierosolymitissa
• Virgin of Vladimir

Notes

1. Koine Greek: Ὁδηγήτρια, romanized: Hodēgḗtria, lit. 'She who points the Way' Koine Greek: [(h)o.d̪e̝ˈɡˠe̝.tri.a], Modern Greek pronunciation: [o̞.ðiˈʝi.tri.ɐ];
   Russian: Одиги́трия, romanized: Odigítria Russian pronunciation: [ɐ.dʲɪˈɡʲi.trʲɪ.jə]; Romanian: Hodighitria

References

1. Pentcheva, Bissera V. (2006). "The Performative Icon". The Art Bulletin. 88 (4): 633. doi:10.1080/00043079.2006.10786312.
2. James Hall, A History of Ideas and Images in Italian Art, p. 91, 1983, John Murray, London, ISBN 0-7195-3971-4
3. Vasilakē; op & page cit
4. Cormack: 58
5. De Simone & Macfarlane 2009, pp. 360–363.
6. Lidov 2003, pp. 273–304.
7. Vasilake & Mango 2009, pp. 17–25.
8. Du Toit, Herman (2009). Pageants and Processions: Images and Idiom as Spectacle. London, UK: Cambridge Scholars. pp. 53–53. ISBN 9781443815079.
9. De Simone & Macfarlane 2009, pp. 205–208.
10. Lidov 2003, pp. 274.
11. Vasilake & Mango 2009, p. 17.
12. Lidov 2003, pp. 286.
13. Scollins, Kathleen (2020). "A Haymarket Khozhdenie Na Osliati: Raskolnikov's Donkey Walk and the Failures of Iconic Performativiy" (PDF). The Journal of Icon Studies. 3 (1). Museum of Russian Icons: 60. doi:10.36391/jis3003. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
14. Gottler, Christine & Neuber, Wolfgang (2008). Spirits Unseen the Representation of Subtle Bodies in Early Modern European Culture. Boston, MA: Brill. p. 261. ISBN 9789004163966.
15. Pentcheva, Bissera V. (2006). Icons and Power: The Mother of God in Byzantium. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State Press. p. 126. ISBN 9780271048161.
16. Cormack
17. Perhaps a lay confraternity – they are shown inside the shrine in a manuscript illumination in the Hamilton Psalter of c. 1300 (Berlin), Cormack illustration 9
18. Cormack:59-61 – Pero Tafur in 1437
19. Cormack: illustration p.60
20. Cormack:61 for display, 58 and illustration 9 for shrine
21. Warren Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford, 1997 ISBN 0-8047-2630-2. Four pieces from Cormack: 59
22. Maskell, Alfred (1911). Wood Sculpture. New York, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. p. 229.
23. Gottler, Christine & Neuber, Wolfgang (2008). Spirits Unseen the Representation of Subtle Bodies in Early Modern European Culture. Boston, MA: Brill. p. 261. ISBN 9789004163966.
24. Maria Vasilakē, p. 196
25. Vasilakē; op and page cit
26. James Hall, A History of Ideas and Images in Italian Art, p. 126, 1983, John Murray, London, ISBN 0-7195-3971-4
27. "Image: madonna.jpg, (300 × 556 px)". avellinomagazine.it. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
28. "Image: Montevergine4.jpg, (238 × 340 px)". mariadinazareth.it. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
29. "Image: icona sta maria  nuova.jpg, (350 × 502 px)". vultus.stblogs.org. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
30. Margherita Guarducci, The Primacy of the Church of Rome. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1991, 93–101.
31. Brincat, Joe. "MGR Tal-Itria". www.kappellimaltin.com. Retrieved 2023-11-12.

• Cormack, Robin (1997). Painting the Soul: Icons, Death Masks and Shrouds. London: Reaktion Books.
• Kurpik, Wojciech (2008). "Częstochowska Hodegetria" (in Polish, English, and Hungarian). Łódź-Pelplin: Wydawnictwo Konserwatorów Dzieł Sztuki, Wydawnictwo Bernardinum. p. 302. Archived from the original on 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
• Vasilakē, Maria (2004). Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing Co. p. 196. ISBN 0-7546-3603-8. OCLC 1124558394.
• De Simone, Girolamo F. & Macfarlane, Roger T. (2009). Apolline Project Vol 1 Studies On Vesuvius North Slope and the Bay of Naples. Naples, Italy: Brigham Young University. pp. 205–208. ISBN 9788896055007.
• Lidov, Alexei (2003). The Miraculous Image in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance: The Flying Hodegetria the Miraculous Icon as Bearer of Sacred Space (PDF). Rome, Italy: Papers from a Conference held at the Accademia di Danimarca in Collaboration with the Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte). pp. 273–304.
• Vasilake, Maria & Mango, Cyril T. (2009). Mother of God : Representations of the Virgin in Byzantine art Constantinople as Theotokoupolis. Naples, Italy: Skira Publishing. ISBN 9788896055007.

External links

• Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261–1557), an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains many examples of Hodegetria