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Theotokos Eleousa
Feast Days: March 14, May 21, June 23, August 16, August 19, August 26
Completed: August, 2009
Tradition holds that Saint Luke, the evangelist, created the first icon of the Theotokos ('God bearing one') and Christ from life, even though he did not meet Mary until after the Resurrection, when she was older. The earliest prototypes, like Theotokos Hodegretria ('She who shows the way'), depict Christ as a young man giving a benediction. Later variants, as the one depicted here, express the intensity of the loving and affectionate relationship between the Mother and the Christ child. The most well known example of the Theotokos Eleousa is the Virgin of Vladimir, from the twelfth century, named for the city in which it resided. The Greek letters identifying Mary are contractions for 'Mother of God'.
I completed this icon in August 2009 at a workshop in the egg tempura method. Egg tempura uses egg yoke and vinegar as emulsion mixed with finely ground natural material to make the dye.
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” -- Luke 1:46-47
