Da Vinci
Oil on wood
c. 1472
Florence
Edward Burne-Jones
Oil on canvas
1879
Liverpool
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Oil on canvas
1850
London
Henry Ossawa Tanner
Oil on canvas
1898
Philadelphia
Mary, in a very real sense you also were the salvation of the world. We forget to ask ourselves what could have happened if every maiden in the land had said no? We forget to feel the sacrifice you made, the dreams and plans you set aside, the shame and suffering you endured. What were you - thirteen, maybe fourteen years old? We're not sure our daughters your age are old enough to be seeing boys, and here you are, bearing the weight of the world in your vulnerable belly.
Mary, even in this Christmas season I fear we overlook you too much. We forget that it was Eve who said yes, and led her husband, family, and world into this aion of nightmare, and just as much, it was you, Mary, who said yes, and led your husband, family and world into this new, unexplored aion of God's reign and grace. How little you could have understood of what your yes would mean, and how much wisdom and humility you showed in uttering it.
Mary, I'm just a Protestant. I have very little experience in venerating you. I'm probably doing it all wrong. But I hope you'll teach me, and teach the whole world, how to sing your song, how to say yes to God, how to bring Christ into the world. Show us, Mary, how to be fully human.
-Nicholas Stanton Roark
Comments (10)
I like the last one.
Also, according to the third piece, they had humidifiers back then? That's neat.
@TheGreatBout@xanga - Yes,
I listed them in order of preference, which coincidentally is the same
order in which they focus on Mary's emotional state, which
coincidentally is the same order in which they emphasize her youth.
And they totally had humidifiers. You can also see the Holy Spirit flying through the open window in the third one. In the second one you can see a carving of Adam and Eve being cast out of the garden. In the first one, Mary is being a responsible little Jewess and studying the scriptures, specifically Isaiah 55. I doubt she was really that prepared, but whatev.
-ND
I love the third one too, she looks frightened and full of doubt. I like that the artist, even though he was painting long after most artists stopped doing it, put the light around her head, which was traditionally used to mark Jesus and the Apostles. It's like, hey in case you don't know, she is Holy and is to be venerated.
Tomorrow is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and we read from Luke 1, 26-38, the story of Gabriel's visit to our Mother Mary. I love that Gabriel says "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." and Mary is kind of like, 'Huh! What's this all about?' But by the time Gabriel is done, she says what I often begin my prayers with: "Here I am!"
You may be "just" a Protestant, What a great post for today!
@scramBledmegZntoasT@xanga - The third one is interesting, because the painting was so poorly received when Rossetti unveiled it that he never painted another religious scene afterward. It was only in the decades after his death that critical opinion changed.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Random
"No, I don't have a gun" -- Nirvana. LOL I'm not taking it in a bad way
I'm sure you know the Schubert version, but have you heard Lauridsen's Ave Maria?Characteristically angelic.
I'd not seen the Tanner Annunciation before, so thanks. Another favorite of mine is Fra Angelico; his Gabriel looks as though he has to take a bit of effort to keep both feet on the ground.
wow. Awesome paintings. Beautiful. However, lets not forget to appreciate Joseph. He sacrificed as well. It was not a one person team here.
This makes me think of what Sojourner Truth said: "Where did your Christ come from? From God and from a woman!"
As Protestants, we have been so afraid of the excesses of Mary worship that we have not given her proper respect. Veneration is not the same as worship. Our fears in this respect have caused us to ignore Mary's significance in the role that God called her to serve. I include myself in this ignorance. The pictures are beautiful!
We just had a sermon on her today during this advent Sunday. She really was a young woman of noble character -- she took on herself a lot of hardship by saying yes to the angel and, in effect, to God.