Our Lady of San Luca, Bologna. Dimensions: 23.9 x 33.3 x 3.3 cm.

This image is a copy of the Byzantine-style painted icon, known as the Hodegetria Madonna (literally she who shows the way) kept in the San Luca Sanctuary on Guardia Hill in Bologna. This image is a popular religious icon throughout the Emilia-Romagna region, and ceramic plaques are one of its richest and most original forms of expression. In this version a half length Virgin Mary is holding the Child Jesus on her right, while He gives a blessing. Both Mother and Child have smooth, circular halos. The Child is resting His head against His Mother's cheek, an affectionate gesture that is at odds with the rigid canons of the Byzantine original, and clearly influenced by the down to earth domesticity of the icon's new home. The moulded figures conserve traces of the original's baroque style in their facial expressions and drapes.