One of the most venerated icons of the Virgin was the Hodegetria, named after an icon housed in the Hodegon monastery in Constantinople. In this image, the standing Virgin holds the Christ Child on her left arm, gesturing toward him with her right hand while directing her gaze either at the viewer or off into the distance (photo below). It was one of the most widely copied types of the Virgin and appears on small scale objects like ivories, icons, and enamels as well as in mosaics and fresco (photo right and see
Case III, No. 18).
  Miliaresion of Romanus III (1028-34)
Whittemore Collection, Harvard University
The inscription starts on the obverse and
reads “O Virgin all-glorious, he who places
his hope in thee will prosper in all that he
does.”
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