CODE: 4692

Enthroned Virgin Mary & the Infant  in the arch of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in porcelain with a handmade frame.

Theotokos in the arch. The Mother of God is depicted seated on a throne with baby Jesus in her arms. The rest of the arch is covered with golden mosaics. Around the perimeter there is a floral decoration (picture 43). The composition is completed with two worshiping angels (image 44) located at the bottom of the sanctuary arch (one of them very damaged). Part of the foundational inscription that mentions two emperors is preserved. There are many opinions about dating. The icon of the Virgin, according to one version, is the one that Patriarch Photios mentions in a speech of 867AD, that it had been made just a little while ago. However, there are doubts about the latter, because Photius speaks of painting. Other scholars argued that the mosaic was made during the iconoclastic interval 787-815, then it was covered by the iconoclasts, forgotten, painted over and with the terrible earthquakes of 1343 and 1348 it was uncovered and preserved. The mosaic remained on view until at least 1750, it was covered and uncovered again in the works of the 1930s. The floral decoration belongs to the original Justinian decoration.