Eleusa
Eleusa or Eleousa, meaning ”showing mercy or tenderness” designates one of the iconographic representations of Virgin with Child. It is usually known in the West as the Virgin of Tenderness. Although belonging to the Hodegetria thematic class from the composition point of view: the Virgin, in the foreground, in a semi-profile posture, holding the Infant, in the Eleusa variant the characters are not looking towards the viewer, but to one another. The Infant Jesus shows his affection by touching either the cheek or the shoulder, or embracing the Virgin's neck. A subvariant of Eleusa is the Virgin and Child Glykophilousa (see canon).
Eleusa or Eleousa, meaning ”showing mercy or tenderness” designates one of the iconographic representations of Virgin with Child. It is usually known in the West as the Virgin of Tenderness. Although belonging to the Hodegetria thematic class from the composition point of view: the Virgin, in the foreground, in a semi-profile posture, holding the Infant, in the Eleusa variant the characters are not looking towards the viewer, but to one another. The Infant Jesus shows his affection by touching either the cheek or the shoulder, or embracing the Virgin's neck. A subvariant of Eleusa is the Virgin and Child Glykophilousa (see canon).
