Botticelli's "Madonna della Loggia"

Sandro Botticelli’s Madonna Della Loggia from the Uffizi Galleries in Florence will be presented in Russia for the first time. First at the National Primorye Gallery in Vladivostok, and then, from November, at the State Museum State Hermitage in St. Petersburg. A special copy of the work for the blind and less visually able will be presented alongside the original along with an audioguide. The Madonna della Loggia is an early work by the artist. He employs an ancient Byzantine icon known as Glykophilousa (in Greek Glykophilousa means “sweet lover” or “sweet kiss”; in the Russian tradition it is more often called Eleousa or Tenderness). And it is no coincidence: it is a powerfully emotional and intimate depiction of the Mother of God. In Russian iconography the Theotokos of Vladimir (Virgin of Vladimir) is the most powerful example.