Madonna (art)


In Christian art, a Madonna is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is . The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in Christian iconography, divided into many traditional subtypes especially in Eastern Orthodox iconography, often known after the location of a notable icon of the type, such as the Theotokos of Vladimir, Agiosoritissa, Blachernitissa, etc., or descriptive of the depicted posture, as in Hodegetria, Eleusa, etc.
The term Madonna in the sense of "picture or statue of the Virgin Mary" enters English usage in the 17th century, primarily in reference to works of the Italian Renaissance. In an Eastern Orthodox context, such images are typically known as Theotokos. "Madonna" may be generally used of representations of Mary, with or without the infant Jesus, where she is the focus and central figure of the image, possibly flanked or surrounded by angels or saints. Other types of Marian imagery that have a narrative context, depicting scenes from the Life of the Virgin, e.g. the Annunciation to Mary, are not typically called "Madonna".
The classical "Madonna" or "Theotokos" imagery develops from the 5th century, as Marian devotion rose to great importance after the Council of Ephesus formally affirmed her status as "Mother of God or Theotokos in 431. The Theotokos iconography as it developed in the 6th to 8th century rose to great importance in the high medieval period both in the Eastern Orthodox and in the Latin spheres.
According to a tradition first recorded in the 8th century, and still strong in the Eastern Church, the iconography of images of Mary goes back to a portrait drawn from life by Luke the Evangelist, with a number of icons claimed to either represent this original icon or to be a direct copy of it. In the Western tradition, depictions of the Madonna were greatly diversified by Renaissance masters such as Duccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giovanni Bellini, Caravaggio, and Rubens, while Eastern Orthodox iconography adheres more closely to the inherited traditional types.

Terminology

Liturgy depicting Mary as powerful intercessor was brought from Greek into Latin tradition in the 8th century. The Greek title of Δεσποινα was adopted as Latin Domina "Lady". The medieval Italian Ma Donna reflects Mea Domina, while Nostra Domina was adopted in French, as Nostre Dame "Our Lady".
These names signal both the increased importance of the cult of the virgin and the prominence of art in service to Marian devotion during the late medieval period. During the 13th century, especially, with the increasing influence of chivalry and aristocratic culture on poetry, song and the visual arts, the Madonna is represented as the queen of Heaven, often enthroned, such as the Ognissanti Madonna. Madonna was meant more to remind people of the theological concept which is placing such a high value on purity or virginity. This is also represented by the color of her clothing. The color blue symbolized purity, virginity, and royalty. Ultramarine was usually reserved for only the most important commissions, such as the blue robes of the Virgin Mary in Gerard David's Virgin and Child with Female Saints.
While the Italian term Madonna paralleled English Our Lady in late medieval Marian devotion, it was imported as an art historical term into English usage in the 1640s, designating specifically the Marian art of the Italian Renaissance. In this sense, "a Madonna", or "a Madonna with Child" is used of specific works of art, historically mostly of Italian works. A "Madonna" may alternatively be called "Virgin" or "Our Lady", but "Madonna" is not typically applied to eastern works; e.g. the Theotokos of Vladimir may in English be called "Our Lady of Vladimir", while it is less usual, but not unheard of, to refer to it as the "Madonna of Vladimir".

Modes of representation

There are several distinct types of representation of the Madonna.
  • One type of Madonna shows Mary alone, and standing, generally glorified and with a gesture of prayer, benediction or prophesy. This type of image occurs in a number of ancient apsidal mosaics.
  • Full-length standing images of the Madonna more frequently include the infant Jesus, who turns towards the viewer or raises his hand in benediction. The most famous Byzantine image, the Hodegetria was originally of this type, though most copies are at half-length. This type of image occurs frequently in sculpture and may be found in fragile ivory carvings, in limestone on the central door posts of many cathedrals, and in polychrome wooden or plaster casts in almost every Catholic Church. There are a number of famous paintings that depict the Madonna in this manner, notably the Sistine Madonna by Raphael.
  • The "Madonna enthroned" is a type of image that dates from the Byzantine period and was used widely in Medieval and Renaissance times. These representations of the Madonna and Child often take the form of large altarpieces. They also occur as frescoes and apsidal mosaics. In Medieval examples the Madonna is often accompanied by angels who support the throne, or by rows of saints. In Renaissance painting, particularly High Renaissance painting, the saints may be grouped informally in a type of composition known as a Sacra conversazione.
  • The Madonna of humility refers to portrayals in which the Madonna is sitting on the ground, or sitting upon a low cushion. She may be holding the Child Jesus in her lap. This style was a product of Franciscan piety, and perhaps due to Simone Martini. It spread quickly through Italy and by 1375 examples began to appear in Spain, France and Germany. It was the most popular among the styles of the early Trecento artistic period.
  • Half-length Madonnas are the form most frequently taken by painted icons of the Eastern Orthodox Church, where the subject matter is highly formulated so that each painting expresses one particular attribute of the "Mother of God". Half-length paintings of the Madonna and Child are also common in Italian Renaissance painting, particularly in Venice.
  • The seated "Madonna and Child" is a style of image that became particularly popular during the 15th century in Florence and was imitated elsewhere. These representations are usually of a small size suitable for a small altar or domestic use. They usually show Mary holding the infant Jesus in an informal and maternal manner. These paintings often include symbolic reference to the Passion of Christ.
  • The "Adoring Madonna" is a type popular during the Renaissance. These images, usually small and intended for personal devotion, show Mary kneeling in adoration of the Christ Child. Many such images were produced in glazed terracotta as well as paint. Examples include, Madonna Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child and Madonna Adoring the Child with Five Angels.
  • The Nursing Madonna, Virgo Lactans, or Madonna Lactans, is an iconography of the Madonna and Child in which the Virgin Mary is shown breastfeeding the infant Jesus. Examples include Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna Litta.
  • The iconography of the Woman of the Apocalypse is applied to Marian portraiture in a variety of ways over time, depending on the interpretation of the relevant Biblical passage.
  • Hodegetria, or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos holding the Child Jesus at her side while pointing to him as the source of salvation for humankind. In the Western Church this type of icon is sometimes called Our Lady of the Way.
  • Eleusa icon, the Eleusa is a type of depiction of the Virgin Mary in icons in which the Christ Child is nestled against her cheek. In the Western Church the type is often known as the Virgin of Tenderness.
  • The Rest on the Flight into Egypt is a subject in Christian art showing Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus resting during their flight into Egypt. The Holy Family is normally shown in a landscape. Examples include Rest on the Flight into Egypt, and they often depict Virgo Lactans.
  • The term Black Madonna or Black Virgin tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted as black. The Black Madonna can be found both in Catholic and Orthodox countries, and may or may not be related to liberation theology.
  • Mary in Islam, as Maryam is one of the most honored figures in Islamic theology she is exempt from aniconism in Islam.
  • Girlhood of Mary, is iconography that features the Virgin Mary as a child, often learning needlework, and examples include The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, by artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, which is of note that Mary is the obvious central figure.
  • the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, is iconography showing the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Mary that she would conceive and bear a son through a virgin birth. Examples include Dante Gabriel Rossetti's 1850 Ecce Ancilla Domini!.
  • Death of the Virgin, Assumption of the Virgin Mary in art, Coronation of the Virgin although doctrine avoids stating whether Mary was alive or dead when she was bodily taken up to Heaven, she is normally shown in art as alive. Depicting the Coronation of Mary as Queen of the Heavens by her son, Jesus Christ, sometimes combined with the Assumption of Mary, is a tradition known since the 12th century. They often depict birds, as an appropriate image of God as the Holy Spirit.
  • Holy Family is iconography of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The example Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist portrays their Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and includes other Saints in the image.
  • Marian apparition the Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is the most-visited Catholic shrine in the world, and the venerated icon has a sunburst of straight and wavy gold rays alternate while projecting behind the Virgin and are enclosed within a mandorla.