Hodegetria

This icon (late 12th–early 13th cc., with 14th–15th-cc. layers) follows the Byzantine Hodegetria (She who shows the Way ) prototype. The Theotokos holds Christ on her left arm and gestures toward him as the source of salvation. Its veneration in the Dormition Cathedral linked Muscovy’s rulers to divine protection and emphasized Russia’s inheritance of Byzantine spiritual authority.