How does Saint Theodora (Tzanes) elucidate its Description?
The painting is egg tempera on gold leaf.  The dimensions are 40.5 cm (15.9 in) × 29 cm (11.4 in).  The Empress is seated on a throne.  The image over emits the gold character prevalent in this style of painting.  Italian painters compensated for the removal of gold by adding realism to their paintings.  Renaissance oil painters no longer venerated religious figures with gold.  The top left and right sides of the painting feature an elaborate decorative rococo motif.  The sides are both decorated with ancient Greek corinthian columns.  The Empress is covered in precious stones from head to toe.The green,  red and pink garment features clear striations and folds of fabric.  The face of the royal is painted in adequate detail, flesh tones are clearly visible.  She points to a painting of the Virgin and Child.  The painting is the traditional hodegetria.  Jesus is dressed in gold emphasizing the veneration of the deities with the precious metal.  The painter clearly exhibits the empress as the savior of the arts.  Two eagles are present one faces the east, and the other the west.  The open book has a Greek inscription venerating the champion of the arts.  It states: In this icon you are venerated, as an icon of the ancients, but also as a saint against iconoclasm.  Two angels sit behind her thrown to her left and right.
hodegetria iconoclasm