The Mother of God Odigitria, The Mother of God Odigitria of Kazan

The image of the Mother of God Odigitria of Kazan has a special significance for Orthodox believers in Russia. In the icon, the Mother of God in a bust view presents the Child, always facing the front, who is blessing with his right hand. The story of the original representation begins in 1579. The image was shown by a nine-year-old girl named Matrona under the ruins of Kazan which was destroyed by fire. The icon was attributed miracle-working powers and an Orthodox church with a female monastery was built for it. The original icon of Kazan was stolen and destroyed in 1904. However, many copies of the lost original exist. The first one was made for Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible in 1579. The copy, brought to Moscow by the army of Dmitri Pozharsky in 1611, was revered particularly after the defeat of the Polish king Vladislav IV and the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow. In 1636, the Kazan Cathedral was built in the Red Square for the icon. One of the most important ones is a copy made in 1708 during the reign of Tsar Peter I who prayed in front of the icon. Peter I's victory in the Battle of Poltava in 1709 during the Third Northern War was attributed to her intercession. From 1811, the Petersburg copy of the painting was placed in the newly built Kazan Cathedral. The image of the Kazan Mother of God was found in almost every Russian Orthodox home. The cult of the icon survived the era of the USSR and was revived with new vigour after its collapse.    

Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967