2.3 The Virgin Hodegetria
Arguably the most famous and best-known icon is that of the Virgin and Child in the type known as Hodegetria (Figure 4). The name relates to the place where the original icon was kept – in the monastery of the Hodegoi (from the Greek οδηγοί, odēgoí, meaning ‘guides’) in Constantinople. From the eleventh century onwards, all sources invariably identify the Hodegetria icon found in the monastery with the acheiropoietos icon created by Saint Luke mentioned in Section 2.2. The icon was destroyed in 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottomans (Angelidi and Papamastorakis, 2000, p. 378, p. 385; Woods, 2013, p. 136).
In the Hodegetria type, the Virgin is depicted frontal and half-length. Her left arm, which is bent at the elbow, seems to support the Christ-Child, while she points at Him with her right hand. This simple, two-dimensional and flat representation of the central figure of Christianity and His Mother visualises a wealth of theological issues and acts as a window that opens up and invites us, through our sight, into a spiritual world. The flatness of the background lacks any hint of physical surroundings – as a viewer you simply do not know where the scene is set. It is also void of depth, suggesting that what you see is a divinity that neither resides in nor follows the laws of our natural world. You are, paradoxically, seeing the invisible.
Turning to the Christ-Child, note that it is extremely difficult to ascertain His age. He is supposed to be a baby (certainly no more than a toddler), but He looks more like a miniature grown man. Closer observation reveals that His Mother’s left arm, which should be supporting Him physically, actually does not. Christ effectively defies the most basic law of nature – gravity – and floats in the air. The icon thus prompts the faithful to comprehend that Christ may have a human form, but He is more spirit than flesh. This fundamental and crucial element of Christ’s divinity is captured visually in this simple manner, in which Byzantine icons of the Virgin and Child show Him being (not) supported by His Mother’s arm.
Finally, Mary with her free right hand points at Him; she puts Him on display for the faithful viewer. This visual indication of Christ resonates with the context of the original icon of the type, which was kept in the monastery of the Guides in Constantinople, whose main task was to show the way to others. Therefore, the representation of the Virgin here underlines a fundamental precept of Christianity: that is, Christ is the one and only way that leads to salvation and eternal life. The Virgin Mary encapsulates this profound message with a very simple hand gesture. And while the viewers of this image observed the divine – depicted in a simple manner, rich in meaning – the divine figures themselves also observed the viewers, placing them under their auspices. In other words, while the invisible is seen, it also watches and encompasses the viewers in its gaze (Lymberopoulou, 2018, p. 44-46). Consequently, all other reproductions and even slight variations that branched out from the type established by the Virgin Hodegetria had to remain as close and as faithful as possible to its depiction, in order to maintain the all-important disassociation from idolatry.