La Mère de Dieu, allégorie de la nourriture spirituelle : À propos d’une inscription de l’église Saint-Georges de Hârlău

In the apse of the church of St. George in Hârlău, the image of the Mother of God is accompanied by a peculiar inscription displayed along the springing of the conch. Its text, taken from a troparion for the thanksgiving after the supper, exalts the Eucharistic connotations of the image and employs the metaphor of spiritual nourishment in relation with the Virgin. The present study concisely examines the insertion of the Marian iconography in the apsidal program, the theological underpinnings for connecting the Incarnation with the Eucharist and the use of the metaphor of spiritual nourishment in the Byzantine homiletics and hymnography dedicated to the Theotokos..