The Virgin Galaktotrophousa (DO BZ.1958.3)
By Kira Houston '23, Clark University
This painting on a wooden panel depicts Mary nursing the infant Jesus. Her title given here, “Galaktotrophousa,” means “Milk-Giver” in Greek. Mary looks towards the viewer and gestures to the breastfeeding infant, emphasizing her power as life-giving protector. The scene brings attention to Mary’s captivating spiritual force, and this painting is not the only example of it — the Virgin and other saints appear across many similar Byzantine devotional artworks, or icons. In this example, gold linework adds volume to the pair’s clothing while dotted patterns encircle their heads, forming haloes. To a Byzantine spectator, these paintings possessed powers of healing and protection. They acted as conduits of faith, linking humans directly to the divine.
Western Europeans were fascinated by the icons they saw in the eastern Mediterranean, and Byzantine icons were imported to western Europe during the crusades. These icons — including images of the nursing Virgin — inspired western European devotional art for centuries, an influence especially visible in early Italian Renaissance painting. This icon was made in Crete in the late 15th century, a time when icons had already developed into a major trade commodity for Mediterranean artists.