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Akhtuirskaya Mother of God, The

Painting
Tempera on curved wooden panel with red and gold leaf border. A red Cyrillic caption sits on the bottom center, and additional captioning is to the left of the central female figure and in the upper inner corners. The female figure ( the Virgin) wears a red head veil with a white star in the center and repeated over each shoulder (this stylistic feature is common in Russian art). She is shown with both hands up over her breast with a sword in the middle (meant to indicate the sword is piercing her in the breast; a stylistic feature common in western/Catholic churches). The Virgin is only shown from the waist up. To her right, Christ is shown crucified on the cross with only a white loincloth on a dirt hill with the skull of Adam under him. Behind him is a grey city.

2005.02.016

Panel

Akhtuirskaya/Akhtyrka/Akhtyrskaia is the Russian name for this Mother of God icon. It may also be referred to as the Okhtyrka/Okhtyrska Mother of God since the original prototype for this style of icon originated in Okhtyrka (a city in Ukraine's Sumy Oblast region) c. 1739. - Dr. Karen Kettering 2023

Betsy Scheuring Icon Collection

2005.02

Betsy Scheuring

Gift

Gift of Betsy Scheuring

circa 1900

Ukraine

Icon

Symbol, Religious

Religious Objects

Ceremonial Objects

Category 08: Communication Objects

10-1/2 in

8-1/2 in

1-1/4 in

Spirit Made Tangible: The Scheuring Icon Collection (2006)

Cultural/Historical Context

"The praying Virgin raises both hands, nearly joining them over her breast, as she looks down thoughtfully to the right, where we see a smaller image of the Crucifixion. She is grieving over Jesus’s self-sacrifice at Golgotha, signified by human bones under the Cross, and with instruments of his Passion placed alongside. A small sword appears between the Virgin’s hands, alluding to Simeon’s prediction that a sword would pierce her heart. The artist captured perfectly the Virgin’s sad mood, and he showed her draped in a purplish-red mantle drawn across the shoulders and a tunic with an embroidered border. The icon’s quality of execution is very high and fully in the earlier Byzantine spirit."

Akhtuirskaya Mother of God, The picture number 1