Evaluate the statement, "the Vladimir Madonna is a masterpiece of its kind."

     The work of icon art known as the Vladimir Madonna descended from works such as the Mount Sinai icon.  The Vladimir Madonna reveals a stylized abstraction that has resulted in centuries of working and reworking the original image.  Originally pained by a Constantinopolitan artist all the characteristics of a Byzantine icon of the Virgin and child are present.  Mary is depicted at the Virgin of Compassion, who presses her son against her face and Mary contemplates the future sacrifice of her son. 

     The icon of Vladimir has seen hard time as it was moved from altars to churches and private chapels; the icon is blackened by incense and smoke.  The Vladimir Madonna was frequently repainted and very little original surface remains.  The Russians believed that the picture saved the city of Kazan from later Tartar invasion and all of Russia from the Poles in the 17^th century.  The Vladimir Virgin is a historical symbol of Byzantium’s religious and cultural mission to the Slavic world.