Eleusa icon

The Eleusa (or Eleousa; Greek: Ἐλεούσα – tenderness or showing mercy) is a type of depiction of the Virgin Mary in icons in which the Christ Child is nestled against her cheek.

[2] Similar types of depiction are also found in Madonna paintings in the Western Church where they are called the Madonna Eleusa,[3] or the Virgin of Tenderness.

By the 19th century examples such as the Lady of Refuge type (e.g. the Refugium Peccatorum Madonna by Luigi Crosio) were widespread and they were also used in retablos in Mexican art.

Eleusa is also used as epithet for describing and praising the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) in the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

The Pelagonitissa is a variant in which the infant Jesus makes an abrupt movement.