Some considerations about Mary in Art

"It is a matter of uniting the divine and the human, the virginal, the nuptial, the maternal—the familiar and the sublime" [1].

The Virgin carries the Lord, her creator. She gives him what is necessary for life: milk, feelings, words to speak, etc.

In the East, Art expresses the coming of the divine through reverse perspective.

In the West, Art adopts perspective in drawing, but the irruption of the divine is larger than this same perspective.

It is impossible to do justice to what Mary must have looked like at the Annunciation. Her expression should be one of surprise and worship, of jubilation and fright, of youth and of gravity.

This shows that religious Art is different from art in general because it suggests a perspective faith.

"And you mustn’t know, you who contemplate, if you admire these images because of their beauty or because of the mystery hidden within them." [2]

Since each person is called to be involved spiritually in their own culture, Catholics don’t hesitate to depict Mary in a Flemish or Japanese landscape. Yet we should not lose sight of the fact that the Incarnation was a real fact, and that Mary was a Jewish woman from Galilee.

Mary in Art: another way to represent the Woman

“Fear to make the female body, even a very pure one, an object of worship, and the Eastern conception that Woman, including her face, must remain invisible, have long prevented Art to focus on the features of the Virgin. In the catacombs, the Virgin is a mere figure, a symbol more than an individual with her own traits. By the same token, 11^th and 12^th-century statues of Mary are often lifeless.

But the existence of a wholly pure woman, who had given her humanity to God, took away any qualm associated with the risk of idolatry. It invited us to contemplate the female attitude; it even allowed us to represent her hair, the start of her neck, feet, hands, chest, face, and expression, all a means to de-paganize the idolized woman’s body. It is the belief in the historical reality of the mother of Jesus that enabled us to free women from the eastern harem, exposing her face to broad daylight.

One can even say that an osmosis appeared in the West between the characteristics of the Virgin and the very model of a Woman, which has for a very long time influenced our conception of clothing and decency."[3]

Eastern Christians codified iconography because they focused on the fact that the mother of God was unique among all women. In fact, all in her is codified: from the almond-shaped eyes and the way the lips are drawn, to the lines of the nose.

Catholics understand this very well. Jean Guitton wrote: "The idea is to avoid showing Mary as either an ordinary young girl or young mother, devoid of any mystery".[4]

But Western Christians also believe that the mother of God reveals the true nature of Woman, any woman. Jean Guitton adds: " I dare say that there is no woman in this world who, at some moments of joy, pain, tender worship, or noble familiarity, couldn’t be a model to paint the Virgin Mary."[5]

In practice, the artist pays special attention to the drawing of her virginal smile, expectant womb, flowing clothing and its symbolic colors (dark red and blue), as well as to show a certain peace in suffering (the Passion) and calm in difficult or emotional situations (various episodes of Jesus’ life).

[1] Jean Guitton, Images de la Vierge, Sun, Paris, 1963, p. 10

[2] Jean Guitton, Images de la Vierge, Sun, Paris, 1963, p. 32

[3] Jean Guitton, Images de la Vierge, Sun, Paris, 1963, p. 6

[4] Jean Guitton, Images de la Vierge, Sun, Paris, 1963, p. 61

[5] Jean Guitton, Images de la Vierge, Sun, Paris, 1963, p. 138