“The Virgin Eleusa with the Tree of Jesse” icon of the late 17th c. from the Voinyliv church in Ivano-Frankivsk region: motifs and symbolism of iconography

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to interpret the meaning and symbolism of the Virgin Eleusa with the Tree of Jesse icon of the late 17^th century from the Voinyliv church in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The methodology of iconography and iconology, formal analysis, semiotics, and reconstruction were used to achieve this goal. The scientific novelty of the article is that the symbolism of the Virgin Eleusa with the Tree of Jesse icon of the end of the 17^th century from Voinyliv was comprehensively interpreted for the first time, the idea of the connection of the old and new testaments was emphasized, the composition of the icon was reconstructed, and most persons were identified. Conclusions. The 17^th century Virgin Eleusa with the Tree of Jesse icon from the Voinyliv church presents a symbolic composition with a complex theological program. In the Ukrainian art of that and later times, there are several other examples of the Theotokos icons of complex iconography, but with other content and composition. The iconography of the Voinyliv icon reveals a connection with the praise of Our Lady, with the genealogy of Christ, with the continuity of the New Testament Church of Christ, and with the Synaxis of the Theotokos. The image of the Virgin Mary with the Jesus Child reproduces a variant of the miraculous Lidda-Rome icon, widespread in the Western Ukrainian art of the Peremyshl and Lviv dioceses of the second half of the 17^th and early 18^th centuries.