The Virgin Mary in Renaissance Art: Faith, Grace, and Symbolism

In this video, we have used Serene Statue of Virgin Mary in Church video of Dominik Gryzbon from Pexels.

The text below is the excerpt of the book The Virgin in Art (ISBN: 9781683255925), written by Kyra Belán, published by Parkstone International.

The Renaissance period in the art history of Western culture spans roughly two centuries, the fifteenth and sixteenth. Named the Renaissance (or the “rebirth”) by French historians, this very significant movement spread all over Europe, and eventually, following the conquest of other continents, all around the world. Initially the movement originated via Italy, as the ancient world of Roman and Greek cultures was rediscovered partly through that country and partly through other Mediterranean-oriented territories with Arab connections. For the visual artists it was a period of major stylistic changes, as they were now given license by the Church to be inspired by the idealised realism and naturalism of the old Roman and Greek artistic productions. Having endured a lengthy period of wanton destruction, old Greek and Roman art was restored, cleaned and displayed for all to see and admire. Artists’ commissions now included sacred themes from both Christian and pre-Christian eras, and often these artists were allowed to combine the two types of iconography into new, hybrid forms. Themes previously used for Marian art were repeated, redeveloped and redefined, and interpreted through the use of realistic style. The images of the Madonna created during the Renaissance often emphasised her physical beauty and her humanity, along with the spirituality of her persona.

Piero di Cosimo, The Immaculate Conception and Six Saints, 16th century, Virgin Mary — **Piero di Cosimo**, *The Immaculate Conception and Six Saints*, 16th century. Oil on wooden panel, 206 x 172 cm. Uffizi, Florence.

The roles of women within the Renaissance period were bound by more restrictions and fewer political rights, and were normally confined to motherhood and homemaking. Women were controlled by the Church with the help of the Inquisition, during a period in which thousands and even millions of females were executed. The ones who were spared lived in fear under the shadow of this ruthless and vindictive arm of the Church. In the arts, many women worked for the males of their families, often as assistants to their husbands, being creative within their art studios. Yet some became visual artists on their own, and achieved major recognition during their lifetimes. People continued to worship Mary, and in spite of the dogmatic disapproval that now endeavoured to diminish her role within the Church, they often equated her with the many goddesses rediscovered from the Greco-Roman past. The arts reflected the craving for images of the Madonna, and the churches complied by commissioning many of these images. Each legend about Mary’s life was explored by the artists, and new variations of the old motifs proliferated.

Bernardino Luini, Annunciation of the Birth of Mary, early 16th century, Virgin Mary — **Bernardino Luini**, *Annunciation of the Birth of Mary*, early 16th century. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.

Every artist was avid for religious commissions, and the opportunities offered by them. The popes, the rulers, the nobility, and the new rich, such as the merchants, all vied for the attention of the artists, offering them commissions for their portraits, their favorite characters from the myths of the past, and above all, for icons of Mary with the infant Jesus. The medieval notion of Mary as the new Eve, the pure and perfect divine creature who would lead the people to their ultimate salvation and happiness within the heavenly realm, gained new attention, and the Marian cult placed considerable importance on her status as the Queen of Heaven. Frequent appearances to the people also added to the popular lore of the Madonna as the bridge to the heavenly realm and as a major intercessor on behalf of humanity.

A fifteenth-century book illustration by B. Furthmeyr, dated 1481, titled Mary and Eve under the Tree of the Fall, depicts the popular belief in respect of Mary as the “new Eve”. It depicts Mary and Eve standing on each side of an apple tree, the archetypal source of abundance in nature. A large serpent is coiled around the tree’s trunk. The serpent in Judeo- Christianity is symbolic of evil and the devil, but was otherwise and elsewhere a benevolent symbol for the Mother Goddess. The tree and the serpent are symbols for the Goddess within many ancient religions, and represent her powers to generate abundance and nature. Since sexuality and sensuality were accepted as beneficial during the old religions that celebrated the Mother Goddess, nudity was also acceptable, but in the case of Eve nudity is connected with her fall from the divine grace of the patriarchal male God. That is why Eve is seen nude, whereas Mary is represented fully clothed, with only her face and hands uncovered. During the early Renaissance, as during the Middle Ages before, nudity was strongly associated with the Fall of humanity and the dogma of Original Sin. This approach was about to change in Western art – and it would affect the images of Mary. The Virgin’s form, never ever shown nude, was nevertheless to become more sensual.