Short answers, pulled from the story.
In art, Madonna refers to a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary, either alone or accompanied by the infant Jesus. The term entered English usage in the 1640s as an art-historical label for Marian art of the Italian Renaissance, drawn from the Italian phrase Ma Donna, meaning "My Lady."
Madonna is the term used in Western, especially Italian, art history for images of the Virgin Mary, while Theotokos, meaning "God-bearer," is the term used in Eastern Orthodox tradition. The title Theotokos was formally confirmed by the Council of Ephesus in 431.
The earliest depictions of Mary date to Early Christian art of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, found in the Catacombs of Rome. The earliest surviving representation may be a wall painting in the Catacomb of Priscilla from the 2nd century, showing the seated Madonna nursing the Christ Child.
The Hodegetria is an iconographic type showing the Theotokos holding the Christ Child at her side while pointing to him as the source of salvation. Most surviving copies are at half-length, though the original was a full-length standing image. In the Western Church this type is sometimes called Our Lady of the Way.
Lapis lazuli was used to create the bright blue mantle of the Virgin Mary because blue symbolized purity, virginity, and royalty. The pigment was obtained from a stone mined only in Afghanistan, making it so costly that patrons had to explicitly specify its use in commission contracts.
According to accounts collected by Ibn Ishaq and al-Azraqi, in 629 CE when Muhammad entered the Kaaba after conquering Mecca, he placed his hand protectively over a painting of Mary and Jesus and a painting of Abraham, directing his companions to efface all other images inside the building.