Mother of God of Eleusa

The tradition of depicting the Mother of God dates back to the first centuries of Christianity. The Universal Council of Ephesus in 341 declared the dogma of the divine motherhood of Mary called the Theotokos, the Mother of God, as revealed truth. By giving birth to the Son of God conceived of the Holy Spirit, she came to participate in the mystery of God's incarnation and thus became an intercessor between Heaven and earth, a tender carer leading man to God. In Byzantium, the Mother of God, as the intercessor of mankind, was called Eleusa, or the merciful one. Over time, the term came to refer to images in which the Child keeps his cheek at the Mother of God's face and embraces her by the neck. Images of Eleusa became popular in 10th century. This kind of imagery in Russia became known as “Umilenie”, as the Greek word “eleos” meaning mercy was freely interpreted as tenderness, affectionateness, graciousness, and benevolence. In Ruthenia, where Mary’s cult was very deep and strong for centuries, many variants of the image were created. There is more composition freedom in the icons of “Umilenie” than in the icons of the Mother of God Odigitria.  

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