Our Lady of Pechory is a depiction of the Mother of God with the Divine Child which according to N.P.Kondakov reproduces the honorable mosaic image from the sanctuary of the Dormition cathedral of the Kiev-Pecherskaya laura. The icons of this iconographic tradition represent Our Lady sitting on a high throne. The Mother of God holds the Divine Child sitting on Her hands with both Her hands. Jesus Christ blesses Her with both His hands. To the right of the throne stands the founder of the Kiev-Pecherskaya laura St. Antony Pechersky, to the left is depicted the hegumen-abbot of the Kiev-Pecherskaya laura and the author of the lections Our Venerable Father Theodosius of the Cave. They hold the scrolls in their hands.
The depiction of Our Lady with the Divine Child enthroned can be attributed to the iconogrphic tradition called Our Lady of Cyprus. According to N.P.Kondakov first such depictions were part of the composition "Adoration of the Magi" that was based on the apocryphal texts.
This iconographic version is one of the most ancient, though the name itself “Hodigitria” is mentioned in the sources as late as the 1X century. There are different speculations as to the origin of the Hodigitria iconography.The legend has it, that the icon was painted by St.Luke,the Evangelist and brought from the Holy Land by Eudoxie,the spouse of Emperor Theodosius in the middle of the V century.Then, some sources assert that the Icon was placed in the Church of Blachernae, while others mention the monastery of Hodigon.This icon “Hodigitria” is said to owe its name to the monastery.
N.P.Kondakov thinks that this iconographic version was born either in Palestine or in Egypt before the V1 century and during the V1 century was widespread across Orthodox Christian Orient and in Byzantium. Other versions suggest the image of the Virgin Hodigitria might have been part of the composition “Adoration of the Magi”, widespread in the early Christian art. Initially the Mother of God could have been painted full-length, either standing or sitting.

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