Teodora Burnand The Complexity of the Iconography of the Bilateral Icon with the Virgin Hodegetria and the Man of Sorrows, Kastoria

The image of the Virgin Hodegetria is shown with an expression of deep grief, and the face of the Christ-child has the features and the seriousness of an adult. The sadness of the Virgin can be explained in connection with the image of the dead Christ on the reverse of the icon. In the liturgical texts

1 A rich pattern of new texts, rites and services was introduced in the monasteries of the capital from the eleventh century onwards see H. Belting, ‘An image and its function in the liturgy: the Man of Sorrows in Byzantium’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers 34-35 (1980-1981): 5.