By Margarita Voulgaropoulou | Ruhr Universität Bochum
Description
The icon of Our Lady Skopiotissa from Savina Monastery, Montenegro centers on the Virgin Mary in a glory formed of clouds, holding the Christ Child on her lap, and surrounded by angels and cherubs. A bilingual inscription in Latin and Greek identifies her as Skopiotissa, a variant of the Hodegetria created in Zakynthos. At the top of a hill on the left, the Archangel Michael is depicted holding a skull and raising his sword, a theme commonly associated with the plague in the Catholic tradition. Above him, an inscription in Latin alludes to the salvation of Zakynthos from an outbreak of the plague that occurred in July 1647 under the administration of provveditore Girolamo Trevisan (1647–49), whose coats of arms are depicted on the top left corner. A Cyrillic rendition of the inscription can be seen on the Virgin’s right side. Alongside the angel, the donor, a certain Stefan Tomić from Herceg Novi (Castelnuovo), is kneeling in prayer in front of the Virgin, beseeching her protection, according to a Cyrillic inscription below him. The entire lower part of the composition displays a detailed view of the fortified city of Zakynthos identified by a bilingual inscription in Latin and Greek, featuring several topographic elements such as the Minotto bastion, erected in 1646. The mention of the 1647 plague suggests a dating for the icon around the middle or in the second half of the 17th century. The icon can be attributed to a painter active in Zakynthos, possibly associated with the workshop of Elias and Leos Moskos, who migrated to the island after the Ottoman conquest of Rethymno in 1646.
