The Mother of God of Joy to Those Who Sorrow

Name/Title

The Mother of God of Joy to Those Who Sorrow

Entry/Object ID

2005.02.101

Description

Tempera on curved wooden panel bordered in red, green, and mustard brown. There is a red Church Slavonic caption at the top, along with an image of God with white hair and beard dressed in white sitting among the clouds. The focal image in slightly inset within the panel and shows Mary clothed in green and red brown robes in front of a red oval standing on a cluster of clouds. She holds the Christ child, who is clothed in solid red. Both have gold leaf halos. The pair is flanked by two angels on either side and a collection of worshippers, some of them on the left are clothed only in white pants. There are nine parchment fragments throughout the image with Cyrillic writing on them.

Type of Painting

Panel

Artwork Details

Medium

Tempera

Collection

Betsy Scheuring Icon Collection

Acquisition

Accession

2005.02

Source or Donor

Betsy Scheuring

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Betsy Scheuring

Made/Created

Date made

1850 - 1900

Place

* Untyped Place

Mstiora Region, Northwest Russia

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Icon

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Symbol, Religious

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Religious Objects

Nomenclature Class

Ceremonial Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

12-1/4 in

Width

10-3/4 in

Depth

1-1/2 in

Exhibition

Spirit Made Tangible: The Scheuring Icon Collection (2006)

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

The Mother of God, holding the Christ Child on her left side and a scepter on her right, stands on clouds in the center surrounded by a mandorla. Rows of suffering people gather on each side, petitioning for her intercession with God to relieve their anguish. The inscriptions on the scrolls ask for help – food for the hungry, clothes for the naked, healing of the sick, salvation for sinners. Angels minister to the people as four saints bear witness. Christ is shown above in the clouds, along with the sun and the moon. The Mother of God is twice the size of other figures, indicating that she occurs in a vision and does not belong to the earthly realm. This is a popular devotional image, seen in many variations.