Protection of the Mother of God
The iconography reflects the legend of the miraculous salvation of the inhabitants of Constantinople during the siege of the city, according to various accounts, by the army of the Rus’ under Prince Askold or, more likely, by the Saracens in the 10th century. According to tradition, particularly Lives of the Saints by Dmytro Tuptalo, on October 1 in the Blachernae Church during Sunday liturgy, St. Andrew the Fool-for-Christ was the first to witness the Mother of God, surrounded by heavenly light, angels, and a host of saints. The Virgin fervently prayed for the faithful and then removed her omophorion, spreading it over all the worshippers.
Since the 17th century, Ukrainian sacred art has seen the emergence of images derived from the Western European iconography of Our Lady of Mercy (Madonna della Misericordia in Italian). This type became the most widespread from the 18th century onward and is now most commonly associated with the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God. Several historical origins of this cult and the formation of the iconographic type can be noted. According to the first version, the Virgin appeared to Saint Peter Nolasco, Raymond of Penyafort, and King James I of Aragon, calling for the rescue of Christians forced to renounce Christ. This led to the establishment of the Mercedarian Order, with Our Lady of Mercy as its patroness. Another version attributes the iconography to the words of the Cistercian theologian and writer Caesarius of Heisterbach, who, in his Dialogus Miraculorum (ca. 1220–1230), described a vision of a Cistercian monk transported to heaven, where he saw monks sheltered under the wide mantle of the Virgin. Yet another version suggests that this iconographic type originates directly from the legend of the miracle in Blachernae. The most typical features of this iconography include the depiction of the Virgin with her arms extended downward, covering a group of people with her mantle. These figures are usually several times smaller than the Virgin. Early examples mainly depict monks, while later ones include laypeople, often with portrait-like features, as well as individuals with various injuries and ailments, emphasizing the icon’s veneration as a protector against plague.
In Ukrainian Christian spiritual culture, the narrative of the Blachernae miracle gained significant popularity, reflected in devotional practices, particularly in the emergence of numerous icons. These can be regarded as one of the most original phenomena in Ukrainian iconography, important for studying religious and historical memory. Starting from the 17th century, alongside or instead of legendary figures, icon painters began to depict characters with the portrait-like features of contemporaries, including rulers, hierarchs, donors, and others. This can be interpreted as an attempt to document communicative memory about objective reality, integrating it into the timeless sphere of the sacred. From the late 19th century, influenced by historicism, Romanticism, and the rise of national consciousness, icons of The Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God began to feature Ukrainian figures from various historical periods. As a means of social representation, this reflects a desire to unite diverse, often contradictory events and figures into a single chain of Ukrainian history. This highlights the aspiration to depict the inseparability of religious and national memory while identifying oneself as part of this continuity. Since the late 20th century, especially with the onset of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014, more examples of The Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God have emerged, featuring contemporary Ukrainian heroes, including the Heavenly Hundred, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the National Guard.
Skop, M. Sacred Sculpture of 1992–2023 in the Public Space of Lviv: Iconography and Presentation Concepts. Lviv, 2023.
