ICONS OF THE MOTHER OF GOD IN THE CULTURAL HERITAGE SPACE OF ROME

The images of the Mother of God in Italy represent a significant part of the cultural heritage of European and world sacred art and icon painting of various chronological periods and stylistic features. A special place in this dimension belongs to the icons of the Mother of God in Rome. Ever since the first centuries, images of the Virgin have been represented in the paintings of the Roman catacombs. The iconographic heritage of Rome represents different periods and a unique interweaving of styles. Over the centuries, ancient icons of the Mother of God have been kept in Rome, made both in the technique of encaustic, tempera, and later in oil painting. Many images of the Mother of God in Rome represent the original samples of the Byzantine style of icon painting of various origins and the works of masters of the Italian artistic environment at the intersection of Western and Eastern artistic styles. A significant number of these icons are crowned and have the status of miraculous. Some of the most ancient and famous icons of the Mother of God in Rome are «Salus Populi Romani», «Madonna del Conforto», «Madonna Avvocata», «Madonna della Clemenza», «Madre del Perpetuo Soccorso», «Santa Maria del Popolo», «Madonna della Catena», «La Madonna dei Martiri» and others. Common iconographic types are Hodegetria, Agiosoritissa, Kyriotissa, Galaktotrofusa, etc. Often, these icons have several Italian-language names, which must be considered when choosing methodological tools for historiographical analysis. The article provides a general overview of the heritage of the icons of the Mother of God in Rome based on the most famous of them. English-language and Italian-language historiography was analyzed to model further relevant research directions in developing this topic by modern specialists in an interdisciplinary context. It is emphasized that in the churches of Rome, there are still many less-known and less-researched icons of the Mother of God, particularly in terms of stylistic features and painting techniques. Their detailed study and analysis of sources can effectively fill this niche in historiography and become an interesting topic for modern interdisciplinary research in the field of history, icon painting, art, restoration, and cultural heritage, as well as the basis of original concepts for exhibitions, photo catalogs, new excursion routes, etc.