Our Lady of Tenderness

The distinctive features of this iconographic version, apart from the gesture of Christ’s hand, is the Mother of God mournfully looking at the figure of the playing Child; the wrinkle of omophorion covers and as though protects Christ; the position of the Virgin’s hands, encountered in the iconography of Mournful Mother of God and some depictions of the Crucifixion. The individual feature of this icon is a wide-open cloak of the Virgin with a pink seamy side and nice wrinkles.

Eleusa

Waist-length depiction of the Mother of God cuddling the Divine Child who holds a scroll in His left hand.

Yaroslavl icon of the Mother of God, with the Deesis tier and the Selected Saints

In the centerpiece is shown the Mother of God with the Divine Child Whose right hand seems to support the chin of  Our Lady and His left hand is holding a folded scroll which makes this icon different from the other Yaroslavl icons of the Mother of God where the left hand of the Divine Child holds the edge of Her omophoion. On the upper border of the icon  is depicted Deesis with the Savior Not Made by Hands in the centre – the feature of many northern icons. Deesis includes the depictions  of saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (instead of the Holy Virgin), prophet John the Forerunner, archangels Michael and Gabriel. On the left and on the right borders below and on the lower border are shown the waist-length frontal depictions of  saint John the Goldenmouth, Apostle John the Theologian, great martyrs Parasceva named “Friday” and Barbara and great martyr Demetrius.