The Mother of God of Eleus

Icon of the Virgin of Vladimir, one of the most popular depictions in the lands of old Rus, belongs to the iconographic type known as Eleusa, meaning Merciful, Tender - see S.12776MŁ. This depiction is characterised by the easily recognisable act of nestling infant Jesus against the face of the Mother, like on the displayed icon. Eleusa depictions appear in many variants and have a more relaxed composition than the depictions of Hodegetria - see S.12770MŁ. One of the Byzantine Eleusa icons, placed in the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir on the Klyazma River in the 12th c., was named the Virgin of Vladimir. During the invasion of Timur in 1395, the icon was transported to Moscow in the hopes that its presence and intercession would save the city. Timur did indeed give up the siege of Moscow. Where the icon stayed after that is not known. One part of the story of the icon, describing the miracle of two identical icons appearing without human interference during prayers by the closed doors of the temple, testifies to the appearance of a copy of the depiction so that neither Moscow nor Vladimir would feel wronged. It is no coincidence that the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Moscow Kremlin became known as the House of the Mother of God, and Moscow became the city of the Mother of God. In 1480, the intercession of the Eleusa icon of Vladimir supposedly turned back the armies of Akhmat Khan from the Ugra River border. The icon became the greatest national holy object, called the intercessor of Rus. Moscow princes prayed for the intercession of the Virgin of Vladimir before and after their return from war expeditions. Rulers of Russia were crowned as tsars before the icon. After 1918, the Moscow depiction was incorporated into a museum collection. The feast day of the icon is celebrated three times a year to commemorate the saving of Moscow and Rus from the Mongol-Tatar armies: from Mehmed I Giray in 1521 - June 3rd, from Akhmat Khan in 1480 - July 6th, and from Timur in 1395 - September 8th (in the Julian calendar, May 21st, June 23rd, August 26th respectively). Teresa Bagińska-Żurawska https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9243-3967