Oil on panel, Our Lady of Kazan with the Child, Savior of the World - by Veneto Cretese, 17th century

This icon depicts the Madonna Odigitria, a Byzantine iconographic type in which the Virgin Mary points to the Infant Christ as “the way.” She is dressed in a red mantle decorated with stylized golden motifs, a symbol of royalty and purity. The Infant Jesus, seated on his mother’s left arm, blesses with his right hand and holds a globe with a cross in his left hand, a symbol of his divine power over the world. Two archangels (probably Gabriel and Michael) appear at the top, suspended among the clouds. The style of the figures—elongated and solemn—and the use of a dark background are typical of the Cretan school of the late Renaissance, which blends the Byzantine tradition with Western (especially Venetian) influences. The visible inscriptions (including “IΣ XΣ,” the Greek abbreviation for “Jesus Christ”) confirm the work’s Orthodox authenticity. School: Venetian-Cretan Estimated date: Around 1600 Technique: Tempera on panel, with gilding (partially lost), dark ground Dimensions: 60 x 42.5 cm Condition: Visible wear, vertical cracks in the wood, loss of material in the lower area