Jolanta Stouten

Madonna Types in Art.

Virgin Mary, Madonna, the Blessed mother of Jesus, the object of veneration in the Christian Church since apostolic times was the first Woman in the history of mankind who became the favorite subject in art, music and literature. Her shrines and places of pilgrimage are found all over the world. Her images have been venerated since the beginning of the Christianity. The episodes of her life are known from the biblical references and New Testament, however, they are too few to build her coherent biography. Matthew the Evangelist speaks of Mary as Joseph's wife being with the child of the Holy Spirit and as a Mother of Jesus present during the visit of the Magi. Mark the Evangelist simply refers to Mary as the mother of Jesus while John the Evangelist does not mention her at all. The exception is Luke the Evangelist who gives us a more comprehensive story of her life. Her modesty, devotion and obedience to the will of God were the base on which Christian theologians construct the picture of her, the picture that made her an exemplar for all ages of Christian women.

The earliest images of Madonna were found in Christian Catacombs of Priscilla at Rome from the 3rd century. These representations of Madonna influenced the development of religious art in Byzantium, where several variants of the type of Madonna were created. However, Bizantine artists developed a new visual language expressing the ritual and dogma in the Christian Church. Therefore the most images of the Virgin stressed her role as Christ's Mother, showing her seating or standing and holding her son. The manner which the Virgin holds Infant Christ is very important. Certain poses of Madonna developed into iconographic types of Madonna. Not many of these early images survived to our times. The primary function of religious image was to lead the faithful towards contemplation of God. However, in Byzanyine theology, these images allowed the viewer direct communication with the sacred figure represented and, throught icons, an individual's prayers were addressed directly to the petitioned saint to whom miraculous healing and good fortune were among the request. To eliminate the venerations of holly images, icons, a large number of the early images were destroyed during Iconoclastic Controversy in the 8th and 9th centuries. Despite of the symbolic nature of the icons the Iconoclasts objected worshipping them for several reasons including the Old Testament prohibition against Images (Ex. 20:4) and possibility of idolatry. However the Council of Nicea in 787 and later in 843 condemned the Iconoclasm and the use of religious images of Madonna, Christ, prophets and saints were reestablished. In 9th century enormous number of new icons were created according to the rigid models and formulas established centuries before including the name, the title, attributes, correct inscription and other identifying signs.

The most influential imaged of the Virgin is the Panagia Nikopoia (Virgin in Magesty) is which Madonna is seated on a throne holding the Christ Child in front of her, as if enthroned on her knees. This image emphases her role as a Mother of God (Theotokos). Her title Mother of God, a title that primarily stresses the divinity of Jesus, was officially affirmed by the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. At first regarded as a heresy and repressed the worship of the Virgin gradually grew to be a recognized element in early Christian Church. During the Middle Ages devotion to Mary grew rapidly as a important tool against Arianism and other heresies that denied the divinity of Christ and reduced her role to the merely a Christ-Bearer. In response against heresies Church particularly stressed the divinity of Jesus as universal and all powerful ruler (Byzantine Pentokrator). Christ became the supreme judge while Mary was viewed as a powerful ever-forgiving intercessor appealing to her divine Son on behalf of worshipers. She was increasingly venerated as a protectress and mediator of the mercy of God, the roles which were assigned to her as a Mother of God, Theotokos.

The oldest representation of Theotokos Madonna can be found on the 6th century mosaic in Parenzo on the Dalmatian cost that depicts her in the major position in the apse seated on the throne with Child surrounded by Saints and ecclesiastics. Showing Christ held by his mother either in her arms or enthroned on her knees the Byzantine artist did not intended to show tender relationship between mother and son but the dual nature of the Jesus as True Man and True God. Her austere, unsmiling, grave face and head covered by red maphorion, gives her rather serious, hieratic look.The popular representation of Theotokos Madonna that shows her holding Jesus on her lap in the way that suggest she has become an imperial throne was called Seat of Wisdom. This representation of Madonna can be seen in many works depicting her with Holy Infant on her lap surrounded by Saint and Angels or in the scenes of Adoration of the Magi . The scenes of the Adoration of the Magi from this period and later show her in the highly stylized, hieratic pose of Theotokos facing frontally towards them. The best example can be found in the Cathedral Treasury in Milan, that holds a silver reliquary from 4th century with the scene of Adoration of the Magi at the front panel. it shows enthroned Madonna holding the Child in the formal hieratic position with two of the Magi one on either side of her. However, the standard image over century that depicts her facing frontally sitting on the throne in a hieratic pose holding a Child with the three Magi approaching her form the left was created almost two centuries later(8th century) by unknown artist. By the eleventh century, the appearance of Madonna's face gradually changed revealing more human expressions and emotions. In 13th century, probably under the Franciscan influence, the image of the Madonna became less formal and more tender.

Theotokos Hodegetria is the most popular representation of the Madonna. She holds the Infant Christ on her left arm who, true to the medieval conventions is shown as a miniature adult. The pointing gesture of the Theotokos Hodegetria with her right hand toward Child means that Christ is ”the Way.” to salvation. The name Hodegetria comes from the Hodegon Monastery in Constantinopole, in which the icon resided from at least the twelfth century onward. This type of the Madonna is traditionally believed to have been painted by Saint Luke and have been sent from Jerusalem to Constantinopole in the 5th century by the Empress Eudoxia. A variant of this image with the Christ Child held on the Madonna's right arm is called Dexiotrophousa. She was also called Seat of Wisdom

There are many other variants of the Hodegetria, based on the response between Mother and a Holy Child. If the gesture between the figures is tender and affectionate she is Compassionate (Theotokos Eleousa), if the Holy Child embraced her or twines his arm round her neck she is Loving (Glycophilousa). The Virgin of Compassion, Virgin Eleousa, still indicates the Child as the embodiment of the divine in the human form, but the tenderness of the pose, cheek against cheek, is announcement of the new humanism. The gold striations on the background, delicate gradations of light and shade, the graceful movement of the figures, the intimate gesture of the Christ Child, his head pressed to his mother's cheek, his arms embraced her or placed around her neck are the most beautiful representations of Madonna in the 12th century Byzantine art.
The another variation of Glykophilousa Madonna, Virgin of Tenderness, depicts Virgin to the waist, her body turned slightly right, cradling the Infant Christ in both arms. Her left hand supports his back, while her right hand passes under his legs. She draws the Child close to her and bows her head so that it tenderly touches his cheek. Christ - a chubby infant with curly hair bends his right arm upwardsand fondles his mother's chin. His crossed bare legs rest on her right arm. This representation of the Virgin of Tenderness is charged with particular theological message and symbolism relating to the Incarnation and the future Passion, passed on through iconographic motifs such as Christ's bare feet and crossed legs.

A further extension is the Virgin Milk Giving (Galaktotrophousa) which was a dominated subject in all forms of decorative art from 14th century onward, and Virgin Orans where she is standing without the Christ Child and her arms raised in the gesture of prayer, or with her arms widespread. In the other variant of Virgin Orans she is shown either a half-length or standing facing the spectator with her hands raised in front of her. There are also Madonna Holy Sorrow, frequently standing on the right of Christ with her hands raised towards Him pleading for mercy for sinners.

Images of the Madonna in the Garden, Madonna in the Burning Bush, Mater Dolorosa, Madonna of Misericord, Madonna Expectans, Madonna del Latte, Madonna of Humility or Madonna of the Rosary were created after 14th century in the response to new needs of religious life. The Mater Dolorosa or the Virgin of Sorrow is frequently described as weeping Madonna in the moment when she meets her Son carrying the cross on His way to Calvary, or standing beneath His cross or supporting her Son's dead body which Michelangelo masterfully showed in his sculpture The Pieta from 1501 (St, Peter, Rome).
Madonna in the Burning Bush invite the faithful to contemplate Mary's perpetual virginity. Alluding to the vision of Mosses, as described in (Exod. 3:2-6), the Madonna and Child replace the God in the centre of the burning bush which was not consumed by the fire. In this case the burning bush symbolizes her virginity unaffected by the conception and birth of Jesus. The best example is the central panel of the altar by Nicolas Froment (1476) from Cathedral Saint Sauveur, Aix-en-Provencematurity, France, commissioned by King RenÞ of Provence which represents Moses before the Burning Bush. This a very interesting work is a combination of a number of unusual elements within one picture. Moses is struck with astonishment at the vision before him that occupies the upper centre of the picture. In a great circle of flaming rose bushes the Madonna appears in a richly draped mantle, holding the Child. Christ holds a mirror in his hand, in which both of them are reflected. The mirror focus attention on the truth. The Madonna of Misericord (Madonna of Mercy) is a devotional image expressing her votaries' faith in her as intercessor. Typical example of Madonna of Misericord is a scene where her votaries or commissioners are crowding beneath her outspread mantle. The most beautiful example of this type of Madonna is the polyptych of the Misericordia by Piero della Francesca from 1460 now in the Museo Civico in Sansepolcro ,where the members of the confraternity of Borgo San Sepolcro are kneeling in the realistic space created by widely outspread Madonna's cloak. In the another fresco, Madonna del Parto, painted in the chapel of cemetery of Monterchi near Arezzo, dated from the same period as the Misericordia altar, Piero showed his Madonna, the protector of pregnant women, as a woman heavy with child, stands out against the damask canopy, held open at the sides by two angels. The sacred and ritual nature of the image is the rather rare example of Madonna Expectans type.

In contrary the Madonna del Latte is in fact a very popular in the Renaissance version of the Byzantium Theotokos Galactotrophousa, the most ancient type of Madonna and Child. The 3rd century fresco shows a seated woman holding a naked infant to her breast and apparently suckling it. It is one of the images where the the humanity of Child Jesus is strongly emphasizes. The Child takes the breast in a wholly naturalistic manner or sits facing the spectator in the lap of Virgin whose breasts is still uncovered. The theme disappeared form art after the Council of Trent (1543 - 1563) which effectively condemned the nudity in church. The portrayal of nudity which had become acceptable in religious art during Renaissance was officially forbidden in 1559 by Pope Paul IV. There are many instances of the Madonna del Latte in European art but the most beautiful one is The Madonna del Latte by Leonardo da Vinci from 1485/90 now in Hermitage. The beautiful woman feeding her child seems to be the perfect model of greatest human values: the motherhood and motherly love. The composition is rather simple and balanced, the figures of the Madonna and the Infant Jesus modelled with the finest use of chiaro-scuro technique. Beyond the symmetrical windows lies lovely mountain landscape so adorned to Leonardo.

The Virgin seated or kneeling before the Child who lies on the ground is a frequent subject of the Madonna of Humility in Nativity Scenes. The Nativity scenes, the favorite subject of many artist, shows Madonna of Humility to emphasize the human nature of the Infant Jesus. The Virgin adoring the Christ Child by Fra Filippo Lippi from 1459 (now in Berlin) is a perfect example.

The last type of Madonna Is the Madonna of the Rosary. The rosary became a popular method of public and private prayers devoted to Virgin Mary. The origin of the Rosary of the Blessed Madonna is not certain though it has been associated with Saint Dominic as a substitute for the recitation of the psalms. According to the early historians of the Order, the Virgin Mary appeared to hi in a vision and presented him with a chaplet of beads that he called ”Our Lady's crown of roses” In 1520 Pope Leo X gave the rosary official approbation. Conventionally in art it shows the rosaries being distributed among worshippers or hang from the fingers of Madonna or accompanied Saint. The Madonna of the Rosary by Caravaggio from 1604/07 (now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Viena, Gemaeldegalerie), the huge altarpiece painted for the Dominican church, is a perfect example of rosary distribution by the Saint.
The central stage is occupied by the enthroned Madonna holding the Infant Jesus on her right hand. She advises Saint Dominic (the figure on the left showing rosary in his hands) to distribute rosaries among people who are crowded around him. The viewer is drawn into the action by the pointing gesture of Saint Peter the Martyr on the right and through the gentle invitation of the donor on the left. While crowded worshipers see only Saint and rosaries the outsider experiences within earthly reality the perceptible grace of the Madonna. Christ , the Redeemer, who is standing exactly in the central axis of the picture intercedes Mary and Dominic. The name of the commissioner is uncertain. It was probably commissioned by Luigi Carafa-Colonna as an altarpiece for the Family Chapel in San Domenico Maggiore Church in Naples. The chosen subject was supposed to commemorate the great naval battle of Lepanto against Ottoman Turks (on the 7th of October 1571) in which his grandfather Marcantonio Colonna fought. The great Victory of Lepanto was attributed to the power of the rosary. Huge red drape tied emphatically around the massive column seems to allude to the Victory at Lepanto.

The realistic style of Caravaggio painting and its supernatural spiritualism were too revolutionary for Dominicans and Caravaggio's painting had been rejected. It was bought by the Bruges painter and art dealer Finsonius, who sent it to Antwerp, where an association of artists, among them Rubens, Bruegel, and Van Balen, bought it for the Dominican church of Saint James in Antwerp. In 1781 the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph II fell in love with this painting and persuaded the Dominicans to sell it.

The iconography derives from the Byzantine image of the Madonna in Majesty (Panagia Nikopoia) can be found in the religious scenes whis uses iconography characteristic of the period. the Byzantine artists, in particular, created several types of Madonna and Child, which appear to be repetitive in the later centuries. The studies of images of Madonna and Child of much later artistic periods makes it clear that they were inspired on the existence of the prototypes during the earliest centuries, even the prototype itself did not survived to our time. The overall structure of composition reflect the manner of life of the society in which the artist lived and was actived. The originality the work of art, experiments with method, techniques and mediums, the profusion of colors, diversity of face expressions, body language of Madonna and Holy Child, the richness of their dresses and garments, the sence of movement and liveliness of the time added the qualities of real greatness to this traditional subject in the history of art.