The Virgin, shown in half-length and dressed in a red maphorion, holds the Christ-child in her left arm. With her right hand she directs the viewer towards the figure of Christ (the meaning of the Greek title, Hodegetria, ‘She who shows the way’). Her gaze is out towards the viewer of the icon. As Christ sits in the Virgin’s embrace, he blesses with his right hand and holds a scroll with his left. He wears a blue chiton with a golden himation and gazes contemplatively into the middle distance.

The Portaitissa (a variant of the Hodegetria) is a miraculous icon preserved in the Iveron or Georgian Monastery on Mount Athos. The image dates from the 9th century and is variously known as the ‘Wonderworking Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos of Iveron’, ‘Iverskaya’ or ‘Gate Keeper’.

This is the centre of what was once a triptych (see below for examples of how it would have looked in its complete state), showing the Virgin holding the Christ-child. Triptychs painted on panels of Beech or Alder were common in many Slavic countries across the Balkans and especially in Bulgaria, where this panel was created.[1]

[1] Y. Pyatnitsky in Athos: Monastic Life on the Holy Mountain, (Helsinki, Helsinki City Art Museum, 2005), p. 238