Current:Home > Contact'Visualizing the Virgin' shows Mary in the Middle Ages -Wealth Axis Pro
'Visualizing the Virgin' shows Mary in the Middle Ages
View
Date:2025-04-16 04:11:11
For religious Christians, Christmas is all about Jesus Christ. But his mother Mary was busy, too, giving birth. Over the centuries, Mary became one of the most popular figures of Christendom. Yet she appears in only a handful of pages in the Gospels. Visualizing the Virgin Mary — an exhibition of illuminated manuscripts at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles — shows how she was portrayed by artists in the Middle Ages, before Renaissance artists decided she had golden curls, perfect skin and blue eyes.
Mary doesn't look that cozy and welcoming in the early manuscripts. The exhibit, curated by Maeve O'Donnell-Morales, shows her as thin and dour, a devoted mother.
Yet much of Mary's popularity rests on her approachable personality, says Elizabeth Morrison, senior curator of manuscripts at the Getty Center.
"In the early Middle Ages, Jesus was a little bit of a scary figure," she says, explaining that talk about damnation and hellfire was a little distressing for ordinary worshippers. "So they latched onto the Virgin Mary as someone they thought could really empathize with them. They had someone who was kind of on their side."
Mary was warm, inclusive, understanding. Devout Catholics told her their problems, and she told them to her holy Son.
For centuries there's been debate about Mary. Was she born without original sin? Was Christ her only child? Was she really a virgin? What about after Jesus was born?
In the Gospel of James, a midwife doubted the Virgin was still a virgin. That gynecological observation didn't go well for the midwife. Her hands shriveled up. The midwife went to see Mary, and said: I don't doubt you anymore. You're totally a virgin. The Virgin asked an angel to bring back the doubting midwife's hands. And so it came to pass.
Thousands of years later, the stories continue. Some contemporary artists are changing assumptions about what the Virgin represents.
"All to the good," says Morrison. "They're making us double-think it. They're saying 'OK, she's not the figure you thought you saw.'"
Today's artists see the Virgin as a feminist, a West African deity, an inspiration for tattoos.
Art — like Mary — is eternal.
veryGood! (29738)
Related
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Khloe Kardashian Unveils New Photo of Her Growing Baby Boy
- Michigan man arrested for planning mass killing at synagogue
- Empty Grocery Shelves and Rotting, Wasted Vegetables: Two Sides of a Supply Chain Problem
- Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
- Khloe Kardashian Unveils New Photo of Her Growing Baby Boy
- Trump’s Move to Suspend Enforcement of Environmental Laws is a Lifeline to the Oil Industry
- Opioids are devastating Cherokee families. The tribe has a $100 million plan to heal
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Wedding costs are on the rise. Here's how to save money while planning
Ranking
- Israel lets Palestinians go back to northern Gaza for first time in over a year as cease
- Ravaged by Drought, a Honduran Village Faces a Choice: Pray for Rain or Migrate
- Why Fans Think Malika Haqq Just Revealed Khloe Kardashian’s Baby Boy’s Name
- On 3/11/20, WHO declared a pandemic. These quotes and photos recall that historic time
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- This Week in Clean Economy: Dueling Solyndra Ads Foreshadow Energy-Centric Campaign
- 'Back to one meal a day': SNAP benefits drop as food prices climb
- Vanderpump Rules' James Kennedy Addresses Near-Physical Reunion Fight With Tom Sandoval
Recommendation
Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
Billions of people lack access to clean drinking water, U.N. report finds
Jennifer Lopez’s Contour Trick Is Perfect for Makeup Newbies
In These U.S. Cities, Heat Waves Will Kill Hundreds More as Temperatures Rise
Bodycam footage shows high
The happiest country in the world wants to fly you in for a free masterclass
Dakota Pipeline Builder Under Fire for Ohio Spill: 8 Violations in 7 Weeks
Exxon Loses Appeal to Keep Auditor Records Secret in Climate Fraud Investigation