May is traditionally devoted to the Virgin Mary. In this Marian month, I'm presenting a trio of images from women icon makers in wartime Ukraine, offering modern variations on the Madonna of Mercy, where the Mother of Christ is shown sheltering people under her cloak. The oldest existing depiction is a late 13th century panel from the Sienese Master, Duccio. The motif has special meaning for Ukrainians, who honor their war veterans on October 1, the patronal feast of the Protecting Mother of God. Ulyana Nyshchuk presents Mary extending her welcoming cloak in the naif style of village sacred art. Using a fiery color palette (left), Kateryna Shadrina shows a grieving couple, a disabled man on crutches, and a youth, tending a wounded dove, beneath the Virgin's roomy mantel. Oksana Andrushchenko gives us the most contemporary version, drawing on both Ukrainian embroidery motifs and the geometric studies of Early Ukrainian Modernist Kazimir Malevich, where Mary extends her garment like angelic wings at the top of the painting. The trio of images can by found on The Magnificat page of The Coming of Christ gallery in The Life of Christ Section. (John Kohan)