Theotokos of Vladimir by Unknown: what it depicts
Theotokos of Vladimir
The Virgin of Tenderness
The Child has climbed up and put his cheek against his mother's, one arm around her neck. She holds him with one hand and gestures toward him with the other, but she is not looking at him — she looks at us, and her face is the saddest in the history of icons, because she knows. The type is called Eleousa, tenderness, and this is its masterpiece.
Only the two faces are original; the rest has been repainted many times over nine centuries. It does not matter. The faces are the icon.
Constantinople to Moscow
Painted in Constantinople around 1130 and sent as a gift to Kyiv, it was carried to Vladimir in 1155 and to Moscow in 1395 to save the city from Tamerlane — which, Muscovites will tell you, it did. It hung in the Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin for five hundred years and is now kept in a church attached to the Tretyakov Gallery, where it is still venerated.
About this print
Made from a public-domain reproduction of the icon, 6,384 pixels tall.
Sources: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, inv. 14243 · Wikidata Q546241 · Wikimedia Commons
Who Made It
Created by Unknown. Painted in 1125. Tempera.
More like this: Madonna and Child, Virgin Mary, Medieval
All Available Options
Below is a list of all available sizes and product types.
| Type | Size | Color | Price | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canvas | 12″ x 18″ (Vertical) | - | $44.13 | In Stock |
| Canvas | 16″ x 24″ (Vertical) | - | $71.62 | In Stock |
| Canvas | 20″ x 30″ (Vertical) | - | $73.10 | In Stock |
| Canvas | 24" x 36" (Vertical) | - | $94.11 | In Stock |
| Framed | 12″ x 18″ (Vertical) | Black | $97.92 | In Stock |
| Framed | 12″ x 18″ (Vertical) | Espresso | $97.92 | In Stock |
| Framed | 12″ x 18″ (Vertical) | White | $97.92 | In Stock |
| Framed | 16″ x 24″ (Vertical) | Black | $121.38 | In Stock |
| Framed | 16″ x 24″ (Vertical) | Espresso | $121.38 | In Stock |
| Framed | 16″ x 24″ (Vertical) | White | $121.38 | In Stock |
| Framed | 20″ x 30″ (Vertical) | Black | $146.73 | In Stock |
| Framed | 20″ x 30″ (Vertical) | Espresso | $146.73 | In Stock |
| Framed | 20″ x 30″ (Vertical) | White | $146.73 | In Stock |
| Framed | 24″ x 36″ (Vertical) | Black | $191.17 | In Stock |
| Framed | 24″ x 36″ (Vertical) | Espresso | $191.17 | In Stock |
| Framed | 24″ x 36″ (Vertical) | White | $191.17 | In Stock |
Image: source, Public domain (work and photograph).
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Reviews
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From our customers
- Fantastic print, makes me happy
Arrived great, definitely feels good in the hand & quality frame
Thomas · The Incredulity of Saint Thomas