Mary is recorded in the Gospel as the mother of Jesus. Is she the mother of other children? The Gospel according to Matthew records persons inquiring about Jesus and saying, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” Are not his sisters all with us?” Images of Mary only rarely depict her with more children than Jesus. Images of Mary and Jesus fit into the most enduring subject of art, Mother and Child. Depictions of Mother and Child predate Mary and Jesus and exist across cultures. The height of such depictions occurs during the Renaissance and provides enduring images of Mary and Jesus. The image is often called The Madonna and Child, Madonna being Italian for ‘My Lady.’ Renaissance images of Mary and Jesus often depict them out of their context and in Florentine context. While they are unrealistic in one sense, they are realistic in another – caring, attentive. Artistic images of Mother and Child tend to take on that title of Madonna and Child no matter their context. Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) often painted a Mother and her Child; Mother Combing Her Child’s Hair, Mother About to Wash Her Sleepy Child, Maternal Caress, and Mother and Child – of which there are approximately 18 depictions, and still others. Most are intimate scenes of affection and gentleness. Berthe Morisot (1841-1895) frequently depicted family life and included oils of Mother and Child, for example, On the Balcony and Woman and Child Seated in a Meadow. Morisot often painted her own child. The beauty and intimacy provided from these Mothers and the Children they gift us with, tend to be our image of the mother Mary and her baby Jesus, close, personal, loving. These qualities are not lost when these artists and others depict Mother and Child at the cross, for example Morisot’s Calvary. Life gets difficult, hard, as Mary and Jesus knew, as we know, and through it all we are reminded of the love between a Mother and her Child.
Prayer: Mother of Life, we set our heart to be gentle, loving.
Question: Who are the mothers to whom I can show attention, love?
December 24, 2023 Gospel Luke 1:26-38 Fourth Sunday of Advent