ABSTRACT
The Mother of God seated frontally on a throne with the Christ Child on her lap is perhaps the most recognizable image of the Virgin in Byzantium. The three Magi approach Mary from the left, while the shepherds are depicted on the right side of the composition. While the rendering of Mary’s figure remains essentially the same on all three better preserved ampullae, there are certain differences in the way that the figures of the Magi and shepherds are depicted. The token’s key image would in turn make its way to the central position in the apse of the great majority of Byzantine churches, where the viewer could become, in a manner of speaking, one of the Magi coming to worship God and bearing gifts of devotion. It is evident that the main apse has undergone a series of experiments in search of the most adequate image.
