Madonna Hodegetria
2023 © Maxim Tabachnik
Pantheon InteriorPantheon with Macuteo Obelisk and FountainSan RasioOpus Sectile Floor, PantheonPantheon PorticoTomb of Raphael in the PantheonMadonna of the StoneThe AnnunciationWooden CrucifixChrist the RedeemerMadonna Hodegetria

Madonna Hodegetria

759
This icon of the Madonna Hodegetria (17th c.) echoes the image associated with the Pantheon’s consecration as Santa Maria ad Martyres in 609, when Emperor Phocas transferred the temple to Pope Boniface IV. The Virgin gestures toward Christ as the Way, following long-standing Byzantine prototypes. The composition preserves the type’s devotional function as a guide to right belief.