Hodegetria

Hodegetria

( ῾Οδηγητρία , the Guide) is the name which the Greeks give to a painting, said to have been the work of St. Luke, because Michael Palaeologus, upon his entry at Constantinople, after the defeat of the Latins, had this portrait borne in advance, he and his army following on foot. The Virgin Mary is also worshipped under this name by the Sicilians, especially at Messina. At Rome they erected and dedicated a church to her, generally called the Constantinopolitan Church. — Fuhrmann, Handw Ö Rterb. D. Kirchengesch. 2, 320; Broughton, Biblioth. Hist. Sac. 1, 495.