The Virgin Hodeghetria

The Virgin in bust is holding Christ in her left arm and two miniature archangels stand above. Her nimbus is decorated with a spiral motif, while Christ's with punched dots. She is wearing a dark red maphorion with black shades and gold decoration along the edges, on the head, on the shoulders and above the arm. Christ stands in frontal position with a wheat-coloured mantle with dense gold striation. T
he characteristic element of the icon is the modelling of the faces and the arms. The face of the Virgin is rendered in warm ochre with reddish strokes and Christ bears an exalted forehead and typical features as the three locks of hair and the crescent-like wrinkle; all is executed with particular freedom. The fingers of the Virgin are slender and well-modelled, as well as the fleshy hands of Christ, both rendered with admirable sensitivity. The melancholy in the facial expressions is emphasized and connects the icon with the sentimentality of the work of Thomas Bathas, a painter of Cretan origin that lived in Corfu and Venice.