Byzantium 330-1453

This is the title of an exhibition running at the Royal Academy of Arts in London until 22nd March 2009. Zero and I are going to see it on 19th December, so I read with interest Thinking Faith's review of the exhibition. Their account indicates some disappointment - with regard to insufficiency in the labelling of some exhibits that makes them a bit inaccessible to Joe Blogs on a visit and with regard to weak presentation of the religious context, say, of the icons on display. However, it also suggests that there is an opportunity here to see a range particularly of icons that are rarely seen by the public.
My attention was caught by a reference to an icon of the Virgin Hodegetria (the Virgin indicating the way to Jesus). I hadn't come across this before, but then put "Virgin Hodegetria" into a Google Images search. There seem to be a number of icons with this title, the essential feature of the icon being that the Virgin Mary indicates with her right hand towards the Christ child held on her left arm.

I will be interested to see an example of representation of a culture profoundly influenced by Christian belief, and hope to gain some understanding of the relation of faith and culture of the Byzantine empire.