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Portable Icon with the Virgin Eleousa

early 1300s
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 303
Images of the Virgin Eleousa, the Virgin of Compassion, developed in the later Byzantine centuries and profoundly influenced the art of the Latin West. Here, the intimate poses of the heads and hands display the warm emotional attachment of the Virgin and Child. The fifteenth-century Latin inscription on the reverse identifies the icon as the one that converted the fourth-century Saint Catherine of Alexandria to Christianity.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Portable Icon with the Virgin Eleousa
  • Date: early 1300s
  • Geography: Made in probably Constantinople
  • Culture: Byzantine
  • Medium: Miniature mosaic set in wax on wood panel, with gold, multicolored stones, and gilded copper
  • Dimensions: Overall: 4 7/16 x 3 3/8 x 1/2 in. (11.2 x 8.6 x 1.3 cm)
  • Classification: Mosaics
  • Credit Line: Gift of John C. Weber, in honor of Philippe de Montebello, 2008
  • Object Number: 2008.352
  • Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters

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