Description
Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn: Mother of Mercy
Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn is the Marian image venerated in the chapel above a surviving city gate in Vilnius, Lithuania. The early-seventeenth-century painting became closely associated with the Discalced Carmelites and the neighboring Church of St. Teresa. Its title, Mother of Mercy, belongs to a devotion shared by pilgrims from Lithuania, Poland, and beyond.
This version shows Mary without the Christ Child, her head inclined and her hands crossed over her chest. A crown, rays, and stars frame her face; a silver-colored crescent lies beneath her figure. The patterned gold-colored covering reproduces the appearance of the original image's metal adornment within the printed composition.
Mary's posture recalls attentive acceptance and prayer. The image can accompany Marian devotion or preserve a connection with the pilgrimage tradition of Vilnius. The depicted jeweled covering is part of the image, not a separate metal garment fitted to this icon.
Made in Poland on linden wood
Art Christiana makes this icon to order on a linden-wood board with two coats of primer. The image is printed directly onto the prepared surface and finished with decorative gold-tone metal leaf (schlagmetal). A certificate bearing the production year and a hanging fixture are attached to the back.