The origins of intercession in the iconography of the Virgin orant
The Origins of Intercession in the Iconography of the Virgin Praying
The Virgin Praying
There are possible variations regarding the very composition itself. The Virgin Praying can be depicted on her own or in relation to a historical-salvific theophany:– Autonomous representation: She appears alone or accompanied by other characters (angels, apostles, martyrs, and/or saints). – An Old Testament theophany. – A New Testament theophany: Ascension. – A timeless theophany of Christ.
The Virgin Mother praying among the Eleven, Saint Matthias and Saint Paul, under a theophany from the Old Testament, apse, Saint Apollo Monastery, Bawiti, 6th century.
The Virgin Mother praying between Apostles Peter and Paul, six martyrs, and the donor, under a timeless theophany of Lord Christ represented in half-length, flanked by two angels. Apse, mosaic, chapel of St. Venantius (Baptistery of St. John in Laterano), Rome, mid-7th century.
Non-apse compositions referring to this type
Virgin Mother Praying («Regina»), Oratory of John VII, Old St. Peter’s, Museum of St. Mark, Florence, 707 AObservationsThe ancient gesture of raised hands with palms facing upwards, symbolizing the attitude of a religious person and, once adopted by Christian iconography, that of the faithful, applied to the Virgin Mary, becomes an expression of the mystery of the Incarnation. Even when alone, with her arms raised to heaven, she represents the Mother of God, for this gesture corresponds to the idea of grace in the act of descending upon her, that is, the conception and the beginning of the Incarnation.The considerations to be made about the representation of the Virgin praying in the scene of the Ascension are interesting, starting from the observation that in this scene the Virgin Mother is depicted at the center of the Apostles, while neither the Gospel nor the Acts make reference to her presence. Now, the fact that such dignity belongs to Mary due to her divine motherhood is not sufficient to justify her presence at the center of the Apostles. Indeed, the iconography of the undivided Church does not proceed allegorically, but it is the iconography that suggests the meaning of this presence: by inserting in the composition the star of the Incarnation (represented as a sphere) or the dove of the Spirit (as in the Pantocrator’s Grotto in Latmos), it points to a relationship between the mystery of the Ascension and that of the Epiphany. This connection is linked to a historical fact: the celebration of the Vigils and the Mass of the Ascension in the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem, since before the end of the 4th century, the feast in Jerusalem had been separated from Pentecost and anticipated to the 40th day. Thus, the beginning and conclusion of the history of salvation were mutually ordered in a single celebration.Literary sources, in turn, confirm that the Fathers, such as Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechesis XIV) and John Chrysostom (On the Ascension of the Lord), liked to associate the two mysteries of the Incarnation and the Ascension. The combination of the theme of the Epiphany (expressed by the group of the Virgin Mother with the Child) with the theophany of glorification in the Ascension, and as often happens in Coptic absides, with the theophanies of the Old Testament reinterpreted in a Christological or even with a timeless theophany, provided an occasion to see that the figure of the Virgin praying is interchangeable with that of the Mother of God enthroned with the Child.But the Ascension is not merely the final term of that movement which, from the descent of the Incarnation, attains the final exaltation/glorification of the Son: it is also *the moment of the birth of the Church*. As the Fathers of the Church teach, when Christ returns gloriously to the Father, it is humanity as the Church that is exalted with Him to Heaven. Thus, the mystery of the Ascension and the birth of the Church are closely related to the Incarnation. All these elements are found together in a passage from St. Irenaeus: *”There is, in fact, only one and the same Spirit of God, who announced to the apostles that the time of adoption as sons had arrived [cf. Gal 4:4-5; that is, the birth of the Church], that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and dwells among men who believe in the Emmanuel born of the Virgin”*.”In the iconography of the Ascension, the Virgin in prayer is the image of the earthly Church. Her gesture signifies the Incarnation and Redemption of which she is the instrument, and at the same time symbolizes the function of the Church in ensuring God an uninterrupted prayer by the faithful. Here we encounter one of the most important and meaningful paths that link the historical figure of the Virgin Mother Mary to the sacramental figure of the Virgin Mother Church. A depth of meaning preserved even when the Virgin in prayer appears alone outside of a theophanic scene (fig 3).Virgin mother of intercession, in profile, hands raised, and 3/4 faceIn monumental compositions, the standing module with the body in profile presupposes the presence of at least one other character, Christ, to whom the Virgin’s gesture is directed. However, in most cases, the Virgin in this posture is part of a three-part composition in which Christ, the Lord, is in the center, while the Mother, placed to His right, turns to Him, and another saint, symmetrically arranged, does the same as a dependent: often, but not necessarily, Saint John the Baptist. From the point of view of compositional structure, the trimorphic module is a centered module, very balanced, and therefore particularly solemn, with numerous precedents in late antique iconography: hence its success and frequency of use in the absides. Compositionally, in fact, the Mother-Son group flanked by two angels or the analogous group of Christ between Saint Peter and Saint Paul also present the same structure.The early evidence of literary compositions in absides containing this module allows us to consider it as the origin of the Byzantine composition known as the *Deesis*.
Virgin Mother interceding, apse, mosaic, Chapel of St. Zeno, Santa Praxede, Rome, 9th century.
Two literary testimonies
The church called La Daurade in Toulouse: the apse of the 5th-century church housed a representation of the Virgin before the Savior.
The church known as the Tetrapylon in Alexandria: Sophronius of Jerusalem (early 7th century) describes a composition found in this city center church. From his description, it can be inferred that it was an apse composition and a mosaic: Christ the Lord occupies the center. He is flanked by the Holy Mother and St. John the Baptist.
Non-apse compositions referring to this type
Virgin Mother interceding, Monasterium Tetriput (Oratory of the Rosary in Monte Mario). 7th-8th Century.
Conclusion
The role of intercession of the Virgin Mother is expressed through her simple presence by the side of her Son, in an immobility that the gesture of her forearm does not interrupt: therefore, the iconography is independent of any affective connotation. And it can be observed that this same immobility signifies at the same time the perpetual relevance of the intercessory role of the Virgin Mother in the present liturgical context.
In the Byzantine East, when it forms part of the homonymous dimorphic composition, this type is called the Virgin of the Deesis: when, instead of the Virgin standing or half-length, as is the most frequent case in portable images, she is depicted alone or with a supplicant, with or without a scroll in her hand containing the text of the supplication, she is called Ele Paraclesis, that is, the Intercession, or Aghiosoritissa, Mother of God. In the West, and particularly in Rome, where several icons of this type are venerated in which the Virgin appears alone, the denomination is Virgin Advocate.
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