"Icon of the Panagia Vrephokratousa/Donna holding Christ in Metsovo”, Dodoni 4 (1975), p. 379-392, pic. 1-3. This study constitutes an examination of the icon of the Panagia Vrephokratousa, which is kept in the Monastery of St. Nikolaos...
more"Icon of the Panagia Vrephokratousa/Donna holding Christ in Metsovo”, Dodoni 4 (1975), p. 379-392, pic. 1-3.
This study constitutes an examination of the icon of the Panagia Vrephokratousa, which is kept in the Monastery of St. Nikolaos in Metsovo (Epirus) and depicts the Theotokos full-bodied, frontal in standing position, with Christ held to her bosom, on the main axis of her figure. The object of this study is the iconographical examination of the icon, in order to clarify the type and conceptual content of the theme, and the analysis of its style, induct the work into a particular artistic tradition, and provide a dating.
What studies exist have not examined this iconographical type, which was repeated from the pre-iconoclastic to the late middle-byzantine period without significant typological variations.
The examination of the icon, based on the renderings of the figures along with the dogmatic viewpoint which they imply, led to the conclusion that this is a case of the iconographical type of the Theotokos Kyriotissa. In investigating the variations of this theme, it became apparent that the iconographical type of the icon under examination is the subject of occasional repetition in all forms of art: coinage, miniature art, sculpture, icons, frescoes, and mosaics, while not exhibiting any significant typological variations in any of these forms. This faithful repetition is indicative of the existence of a well-known template, a miraculous icon. The Kyriotissa type has, in bibliography up until now, been identified with the type of the Panagia Nikopoios. The research showed that the difference of the two iconographical types does not occur in their morphological depiction but rather in their dogmatic viewpoint: the representation of the Christ Child within a Clipeus in the Nikopoios type takes on, from a dogmatic point of view, the character of an imagined/disembodied presence, while His representation without a medallion, in the Kyriotissa type, is implied to be actual, thereby placing emphasis on the Incarnation.
A stylistic analysis of the icon in Metsovo was subsequently carried out, which inducted it into the cycle of the Cretan works. Due to its similarities to the technique and style of Theophanes, as proven by a comparison with works of his cycle, it can be dated to just after the mid-16th century.
