Hodegetria (Ὁδηγήτρια), literally translated from Greek - indicating the way, is one of the most popular types of iconographic images of the Virgin (Virgin Mary).
Such famous icons as Smolensk, Kazan, Georgian icons of the Mother of God and many others belong to Hodegetria.
Holding the child Jesus in her arms and looking in his direction, she points to him as the source of salvation for all mankind. The head of the Mother of God usually leans towards the child, who raises his hand in a blessing gesture.
But did Hodegetria always look this way and where did this type of icons come from?
Hodegetria, early 15th century.
The most revered icon of Hodegetria, regarded as the original, was kept for a long time in the main convent of Constantinople, Panagia Hodegetria, which was built specifically to preserve the icon.
According to the legend, the holy image was brought from the Holy Land by Eudokia, the wife of the emperor Theodosius II (408-450), and was written by the holy Apostle Luke himself.
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It is believed that the original Hodegetria was destroyed in 1453 after the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks under the leadership of Sultan Mehmed II.
According to the surviving information, the conquerors chopped the icon into pieces in order to take possession of the frame of gold and precious stones that adorned it.
According to alternative versions, Hodegetria was moved to Russia or Italy.
Currently, there are a large number of copies of the icon, including quite ancient and revered ones, but not one of them is recognized as the original Constantinople, although it should be noted that there are almost identical to it in appearance.
Some Russians, however, believe that after the fall of Constantinople, the Hodegetria icon was delivered to Russia and placed in the Assumption Cathedral of Smolensk, where it was kept until 1941, when it was destroyed by fire during the German occupation of the city.
Smolensk Hodegetria. Extant copy of 1482.
A number of churches throughout Russia are dedicated to the Smolensk Hodegetria, but many art historians date it only to the 11th century, while the existence of the Constantinople original was reliably known already at the end of the 5th - beginning of the 6th century.