An artwork on Galleree from Cleveland Museum of Art.
About the artwork
Icon of the Mother of God and Infant Christ (Virgin Eleousa)c. 1425–50
Angelos Akotantos
This large icon of a tender embrace between the Virgin Mary and Christ likely hung on a Greek Orthodox church’s iconostasis, a screen separating the congregation from the altar-containing sanctuary, which only clergy could enter. A skilled painter of faces and draperies, Angelos Akotantos was among Crete’s most sought-after artists. Based in Byzantium’s artistic center in his hometown of Candia, he painted for imperial clients and beyond. Despite theological differences, Cretan icons of Mary were popular in Ethiopia. In the early 1500s, Emperor Lebna Dengel sent monks Zekre and Pawli to acquire Cretan icons for him. Twenty-nine Cretan icons are still venerated (honored) in Ethiopian churches.
This is the only known work by Angelos Akotantos in the United States.
tempera and gold on wood
Unframed: 96 x 70 cm (37 13/16 x 27 9/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
In the sacred stillness of a Greek Orthodox church, a large icon captured the heart of the faithful—a tender embrace between the Virgin Mary and Christ, framed by the intricately adorned iconostasis that served as a barrier between the congregation and the divine sanctuary beyond. This sanctuary, a place of reverence, was accessible only to clergy, leaving the rest of the worshippers to gaze longingly at the vibrant images that adorned their world.
At the center of this artistic creation stood a master: Angelos Akotantos, a painter whose skilled hands brought faces to life and drapery to dance. His home, Candia, a vibrant seat of Byzantine artistry, hummed with the creative pulse of the era. Here, Akotantos found himself in high demand, not only among local patrons but also from imperial clients who sought to grace their spaces with his divine interpretations.
It was during these vibrant years that the reach of Cretan icons began to echo beyond the shores of Greece, finding a welcoming embrace thousands of miles away in Ethiopia. Despite the theological chasms that separated the two cultures, the beauty of Mary in Akotantos's art transcended all barriers. In the early 1500s, Emperor Lebna Dengel of Ethiopia recognized the power of these images and, in his quest for spiritual treasures, sent forth monks—Zekre and Pawli—on a mission to acquire these sacred Cretan icons.
Their journey was not in vain; they returned bearing 29 remarkable icons, each one a vessel of devotion. Today, these treasures continue to be venerated within Ethiopian churches, each brushstroke a story, each hue a prayer, linking two distant worlds through a shared reverence for the divine. The embrace captured in that grand icon serves not only as a representation of love between mother and son but also as an enduring testament to the beauty of connection across cultures and time.
About the artist
Creating transformative experiences through art “for the benefit of all the people forever.”The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 66,500 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The artworks shared on this platform are sourced from the museum's Open Access data under the CC0 license. No endorsement is implied.Address: 11150 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH, USA 44106
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