Icon of devotion exhibit at SM Supermalls

MANILA, Philippines - Mallgoers had the rare opportunity to view select Mother & Child Russian icons at the “Beloved Mother, Icon of Devotion” exhibit at SM’s premier malls — SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, and The Block, SM City North EDSA.

A joint project of SM and the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, the photo exhibit showcases the outstanding craftsmanship and artistry of Russian icons, explores religious art with filled symbols and meanings, and celebrates the significance and universality of maternal love.

The photographs are part of the outstanding collection of Russian icons dating from the 17th to the 20th century collected at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila in the early ’80s, and are now part of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) collection. The selected Mother & Child icons are mostly done in egg tempera on wood, with several of the icons covered with highly ornate iklad or metal coverings that add to their divine beauty.

In religious art, the Mother & Child theme is most significant because it represents Mary and Jesus. In the Philippines, the most popular Mother & Child image is the miraculous Mother of Perpetual Help, brought to the Philippines in 1906 by the Redemptorists and enshrined since 1958 at the Baclaran Church.

Since the beginning of Orthodoxy in Russia, icons have played an important role — so important, in fact, that the Soviets sought the destructions of icons.

The Virgin of Don, 19th century

After Prince Vladimir converted to Orthodoxy in the 10th century, icons became part of Russia’s religious and artistic scene, with devotees venerating them in Russian churches and homes. The famous legend about how the beauty and majesty of Constantinople’s Hagia Sophia impressed the emissaries of Prince Vladimir is said to be the beginning of Russian icon painting. Byzantine artistic traditions were imported along with its religion, and the first Russian icon painters were Greek. Later Russians themselves took to the task of icon painting making, developing a style different from that of Greek icon painters. 

Russians are often credited with humanizing the tradition of icon painting and focusing on Mary’s being a Mother, rather than a Virgin. This focus may arise from the Russian concept of “Mother Earth” or “Mother Russia,” the mother figure that protects and nurtures. One of the best representations of this is the Vladimir Virgin, also known as the Vladimir Mother of God icon, which shows a maternal Mary cradling Baby Jesus. Brought to Kiev from Constantinople, the Vladimir Mother of God icon has come to represent the importance of Russian icons to art, history, and culture. 

The Russian icon exhibit was launched at the SM Mall of Asia with Russian Ambassador to the Philippines Nikolay R. Kudashev, PCGG Commissioner Maita Chan-Gonzaga, and Metropolitan Museum of Manila vice chair Corazon Alvina gracing the event. SM executives vice president Millie Dizon and Mall of Asia assistant mall manager Nona Reyes welcomed them. It then proceeded to SM Megamall and The Block at SM City North EDSA just in time for May.

The Beloved Mother, Icon of Devotion exhibit is one of the many exciting cultural projects of SM’s premiere malls.