The icon the Madonna of Kiev is one of the most famous Marian icons in the world. Its beauty is often compared to the Mona Lisa. The viewer’s attention is drawn to the Madonna’s gentle face, her head nuzzling the Christ Child’s.
Today, many nations know the image by the name Our Lady of Tenderness. The icon became the ideal of Marian icons, never again achieved by later artists. It was created by a Byzantine monk around 1132 for Prince Mstislav of Kiev. It came to Ukraine around…