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Madonna (art)

In art, a Madonna (Italian: [maˈdɔnna]) is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches.[1] The word is from Italian ma donna 'my lady' (archaic). 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 Madonna" redirects here. For the American pop singer, see Madonna. For the nickname, see Madonna (nickname). For other uses, see Madonna (disambiguation).

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 earliest depictions of Mary date to Early Christian art of the (2nd to 3rd centuries, found in the Catacombs of Rome.[2] These are in a narrative context. 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 ("God-bearer") in 431.[3] The Theotokos iconography as it developed in the 6th to 8th century rose to great importance in the high medieval period (12th to 14th centuries) 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 (such as the Panagia Portaitissa) 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 (and further by certain modernists such as Salvador Dalí and Henry Moore), while Eastern Orthodox iconography adheres more closely to the inherited traditional types.

One type of Madonna shows Mary alone (without the child Jesus), 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 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.

Hodegetria

The "Madonna enthroned" is a type of image that dates from the 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.

Byzantine

The 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.[10] This style was a product of Franciscan piety,[11][12] 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.[13]

Madonna of humility

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 , particularly in Venice.

Italian Renaissance painting

The seated "Madonna and Child" is a style of image that became particularly popular during the 15th century in 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.

Florence

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, and Madonna Adoring the Child with Five Angels (Botticelli).

Madonna Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child

The , 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.

Nursing Madonna

The iconography of the is applied to Marian portraiture in a variety of ways over time, depending on the interpretation of the relevant Biblical passage.[14]

Woman of the Apocalypse

or Virgin Hodegetria, is an iconographic depiction of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary) 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.

Hodegetria

the Eleusa (or Eleousa; Greek: Ἐλεούσα – tenderness or showing mercy) 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.

Eleusa icon

The 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 (Caravaggio), and they often depict Virgo Lactans.

Rest on the Flight into Egypt

The term 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.

Black Madonna

as Maryam (Mary) is one of the most honored figures in Islamic theology she is exempt from aniconism in Islam.

Mary in Islam

Girlhood of Mary, is iconography that features the Virgin Mary as a child, often learning needlework, and examples include , by artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, which is of note that Mary is the obvious central figure.

The Girlhood of Mary Virgin

the 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 Ecce Ancilla Domini.

Annunciation

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.

Death of the Virgin

is iconography of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. The example Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist (Mantegna) portrays their Presentation of Jesus at the Temple and includes other Saints in the image.

Holy Family

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.

Marian apparition

There are several distinct types of representation of the Madonna.

Rest on The Flight into Egypt, c. 1510,[21] by Gerard David, depicts a close, intimate moment of tenderness where she only has eyes for the Child.

Rest on The Flight into Egypt, c. 1510, by Gerard David depicts a close, intimate moment of tenderness where she only has eyes for the Child.

Lorenzo Monaco, Florence, c. 1410

Lorenzo Monaco, Florence, c. 1410

, the earliest large-scale sculptural example in Western Europe and a precedent for the polychrome wooden processional sculptures of Romanesque France, a type known as Throne of Wisdom

Golden Madonna of Essen

, depicting a Madonna sitting on the ground, or low cushions

Madonna of humility

, a painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, from around the year 1300

Madonna and Child

(Czarna Madonna or Matka Boska Częstochowska in Polish) icon, which was, according to legend, painted by St. Luke the Evangelist on a cypress table top from the house of the Holy Family

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa

, possibly one of two works begun by Leonardo da Vinci

Madonna and Child with Flowers

(of tenderness) has been depicted both in the Eastern and Western churches.

Madonna Eleusa

, a relief by Michelangelo

Madonna of the Steps

, by Raphael

Madonna della seggiola

, by Parmigianino

Madonna with the Long Neck

, the name of two paintings by Salvador Dalí created in 1949 and 1950

The Madonna of Port Lligat

The Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages

Metropolitan Museum: