Description in Icons, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2004, cat. no. 31:
The Mother of God “Skopiotissa”
19th century, Greece
NMI 226

Wood: Spruce (Picea sp.), egg tempera.
Panel made of single board with two
superimposed splines; back grounded
and painted brown.

Inscriptions on obverse: Seal with
indistinct Greek inscription

PROVENANCE: Olof Aschberg;
Gift of O.Aschberg 1933
CONSERVATION: Restored before entering
NM: retouches. Corners and splines
worm-eaten; paint layer losses along borders;
varnish yellowed and grimy

The prototype of the Scopiotissa
Mother of God, dating from the 18th
century, can be found in a church on
Mount Skopos on Zakynthos, one of
the Ionian islands.1 This type shows
the Mother of God head and shoulders,
with her head slightly inclined to
her left, crowned with a distinctly indicated
crown and with her hands crossed
on her breast. She always has distinctly
drawn features and large eyes.
The designation itself, Skopiotissa, seldom
occurs on the image.2 The seal on
the lower part of the front may be the
proprietary mark of a monastery.
1 Chatzidakis 1962, p 195.
2 EIKONES 1980, p 115.
[slut]