272 - 17th-century Venetian-Cretan icon

17th-century Venetian-Cretan icon Virgin Eleousa or Virgin of Tenderness Tempera and gold on wood 44 x 37 cm The Virgin Eleousa, also known as the Mother of God of Tenderness, has its origins in Byzantine Christianity. She is a variant of the older Virgin Odigitria—that is, the Virgin Who Points the Way—from which she differs in her posture, which is no longer frontal, with clear references to the human side of the Virgin and the Child, depicted in an act of mutual tenderness. The earliest examples date back to the 8th–9th centuries and have been repeated over the centuries, following the tradition of Venetian-Cretan icons and the world of Orthodox Christianity. A 17th-century Venetian-Cretan icon Virgin Eleousa (Our Lady of Tenderness) Tempera and gold on panel 44 × 37 cm The Virgin Eleousa, also known as Our Lady of Tenderness, originated in the Byzantine Christian tradition. It represents a variant of the earlier Hodegetria type, in which the Virgin points the way. Unlike the Hodegetria, the Eleousa is characterized by a less frontal composition, emphasizing the human dimension of both the Virgin and the Child through their tender physical interaction and reciprocal gestures of affection. The earliest examples date back to the 8th–9th centuries. This iconographic type continued to be reproduced over the centuries, particularly within the Venetian-Cretan school and the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition.