Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
The same reflective smile plays on Mary's lips, and she is dressed in similar royal garb. This time her hands are peeking out from her cascading robe, her face and figure is fuller, and the Child, still solemn, seems slightly more infant-like. In both pictures, he seems more earnest than the mother. Mary is still erect, though slightly more bent by the shoulders than the other. She has the same regal pose, although this position has been slightly relaxed in both images. The throne in the last image too has been replaced in this one by a bench that is decorated with insignias. The Child, here too is perched on Mary's knee.
Both Infant and mother seem to have their hands extended. The gesture may mean various things from inviting the viewer to look at them to inviting a connection between viewer and themselves. I certainly feel an abridgement of distance between this image and that of the other. The other seemed more distancing and authoritarian. This one seems more welcoming and inviting.
Photo 5 (Virgin and Child about...
The virgin, crowned as the other two images, may have likely held a scepter in her right hand and is represented as the Queen of the Heaven. She sits with the child Jesus on her lap (as in the other images) and represents the Throne of Wisdom. As in the two previous statues, you feel as though Mary were a wise and sympathetic confidante. The proportions of this image too -- as of the others -- are elongated, with the face -- particularly that of Child -- small. The long, smooth folds of the drapery project the serenity that emerges from the figure.
In short, all three images portray Mary as the Queenly Mother and in two of them she is sitting on the Throne of Wisdom. All have her accompanied by her dual image of royal Son who is, in each case, portrayed in an adult, solemn manner. The elongation of the figures, their quiet, subdued, solemn repose, and the long, smooth folds of their drapery synchronize to project an authoritative, serene impression.
However, certain elements of traditional Christian theology are centered on Mary, and the degree of emphasis that those elements receive can be very telling about Mary's actual role in the religion. For example, the connection between female chastity and religious observance seems to have been established by God's choice of a Virgin to carry his son. God did not have to choose a virgin to bear his child, but
This may well have been intentional, because since the statue was moved from its original location, no one knows in what position it was before (Michelangelo pp). The artist might have intentionally deformed it if it was to be housed in a high place in order to balance human sight aberration, yet much of the Madonna's size is concealed in the drapery, thus, the figures look quite natural (Michelangelo
On the other hand, it is quite likely moreover that these statues were fertility statues for given the circumstances of the times when due to policies uncertainties as well as situations of health and socio-economic difficulties, death of women during childbirth was rampant, as well as miscarriage and other pre and post natal incidents common. Primitive people, before the days of scientific and empirical resigning, turned to nature as their
Both the statues serve the purpose of transmitting the idea that Virgin Mary and Christ the baby are the owners of absolute wisdom. One however is highly majestic and monumental while the other is simpler. Both of them communicate fundamental Christian values. They both have a similar dark colour which suggests the dark ages in which they were created. In both cases the virgin is depicted as protective. In one
According to the Roman historian Pliny, in his Natural History, in 238 BC, at the direction of an oracle in the sibylline books, a temple was built to honor Flora, an ancient goddess of flowers and blossoming plants. (Pliny, XVIII.286) the temple was dedicated on April 28 and the Floralia instituted to solicit her protection for the city. Although the Floralia originated as a "moving festival," after a period with bad
Hygieia Describe the object in detail. What is the medium? What is the color and size? If there are human figures what are they doing? How are they posed? What are they wearing? What are the expressions on their faces? According to the website of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, The Hope Hygieia is a marble, life-sized statue of the ancient goddess of health that was originally discovered