Antique Post-Byzantine Virgin of Tenderness Bronze Icon Pendant — 16th–17th Century

There is something incredibly moving about holding a devotional treasure that has been carried in faith for centuries❤️

This remarkable double-sided Icon pendant is believed to be a post-Byzantine work, attributed to approximately the 16th–17th century. 

It appears to have been cast in bronze or a related copper alloy and measures approximately 1 inch long by 3/4 inch wide.

One side depicts the Blessed Mother tenderly embracing the Christ Child, Their faces pressed lovingly together. This ancient Byzantine-style image is known as the Eleousa, or Virgin of Tenderness—an iconographic tradition beautifully expressing both Our Lady’s maternal love and the mystery of the Incarnation. 

The sorrowful tenderness of the image also quietly points toward the suffering her Divine Son would one day endure.

The reverse bears a considerably worn sacred composition that appears to be a Deesis-type image, with Christ placed centrally between holy intercessory figures.

Portions of the old devotional inscriptions remain visible around both sides.

The pendant carries a deep, naturally aged brown and greenish patina, surface encrustation, pitting, rubbing, and softened details consistent with its considerable age. 

The large suspension loop remains present and shows age.

We cannot know whose hands once held this little pendant, where it traveled, or how many prayers were whispered while it was worn. Yet you can tell that it has survived a very long journey—and now it awaits a new Catholic home where its sacred images can once again inspire prayer and devotion.

Believed to date to approximately the 16th–17th century.

A truly fascinating little survivor of centuries of devotion ❤️