Suffering With Joy

Decoding Sacred Art

May 10, 2010

Madonna with Child Clothed in Sunlight, detail, c. 1450-60, tempera on panel, parish church in Przydonica, Poland

Since it’s May, Mary’s month, in her honor I wanted to spread devotion to her through a special painting.  A few years ago I stumbled upon this beautiful work of art and earlier this year traced its origins.  Ever since I first saw it, I was captivated by it and hope others will be,too.

Sacred art has always been a way of teaching the truths of the Faith and this piece, Madonna with Child Clothed in Sunlight, is no exception.  Although I knew much of what the painting said, I lacked an understanding of its total meaning.  Fortunately a kind priest who writes icons and teaches art enlightened me so I can now bring a good and much more complete interpretation of it to you.

Considering the history of Poland and the age of this work, we are very fortunate that it still exists.  My feeling is that it should be made widely known and loved not just as an example of great art, but because of its spiritual significance. That it resides in a small parish church in the diocese of Tarnow, Poland in the town of Przydonica means this treasure is not very accessible to most people.

Great art is timeless.  Its message is ever old and ever new in immutable truth. Painted between 1450-1460 by an unknown artist, this unusual image is obviously the Woman of the Apocalypse clothed in the sun with the moon beneath her feet, but there is a great deal more than that to it.

A painting of tempura on panel, this work is a blend of eastern and western art in the style of icons and of the Italian school of the time which alone makes it noteworthy. Renaissance painting styles came from Italy to France, then to Prague and then to Northern Europe. The use of gold is a technique imported from Italy while the position of Mother and Baby are similar to many icons.

Our Lady stands atop a downward curved crescent moon with a face beneath.  Educated people of the 15^th century knew astronomy and the cycles of the moon.  In the west the “man in the moon” was a common portrayal in art, poetry, and literature because westerners see a man in the moon. (Asians see a rabbit in the moon.)

Whenever Mary is shown with the moon it means she, like the moon, reflects the light of the sun who is the Son of God. Standing above the face depicts her exalted status above all others in the human race.  She is crowned as queen and her damask robe is studded with diadems along the edge, as is the Baby Jesus’s robe, also a sign of royalty.

This painting is unique for many reasons, particularly because it is very rare to find artists showing Our Lady clothed in damask. Damask is a type of woven cloth originating in Damascus, Syria, a crossroads between east and west on the most important route of the old Silk Road.  From the time of the Crusades on, many Catholics made pilgrimages to the Holy Land from all over Europe, including Poland.  Damascus was a safe stop on the journey and from there the fabric was brought back by returning pilgrims to Europe. It was the very costly linen of royalty. Thus, her damask clothing along with her jeweled crown is another sign of the Queenship of Mary.

Mary’s inner robe, which is blue with a golden damask pattern, is an icon symbol of Divinity. Mary is clothed in and by the Divine Trinity. The white outer robe symbolizes creation , purity, Gods divine light, and righteous people who are good, honest, and live by the Truth.

Because of its weave, damask has a quality of iridescence which the painter skillfully reproduced, further creating the analogy of Mary’s luminous splendor of grace.

Jesus wears a red violet robe, a color of royalty and authority and His left hand extends in the direction of Mary and the lily flower, which is a symbol of purity. He appears to be presenting His mother to us by the position of His hands, seeming to say, “See and love My Mother as I love her.  Look to her as I, the child, looked to her.”  Mary’s eyes are humbly lowered in the direction of her Baby, her all-precious Son and her God.

Jesus and Mary are set before a grove of trees with flowers on the ground.  This is a Polish custom in the depiction of Our Lady and also typical of Renaisance paintings with their emphasis on detail of the natural world. It says Mary and Jesus are among and with all creation, walking with us in our daily lives as we go to and fro about our business. The perfection of the Mother and Son does not keep them from being with us far less perfect creatures. Heaven has met earth and the divine is enmeshed in our lives.   The Polish devotion to Our Lady is a key part of their culture and spirituality and Poles have historically portrayed Mary in all aspects of their lives.

From a technical standpoint (art history) the painting shows the style of depth that was practiced in the Renaissance with an attempt to create the illusion of space and perspective while maintaining the italo-byzantine tradition with the gold leaf behind the forest and stylized leaves on the trees and on the plants on the ground.  This manner of painting allows the subjects to stand out in simplicity and splendor with no distraction from the truths they declare.

Green is the color of spring and of hope, of new life and creation, as are the flowers.  Wherever Mary goes with Baby Jesus, she brings hope in the life to come.

The position of Mary holding Jesus is like an icon, but the eyes are not icon eyes which generally are very large.  The heads of Jesus and Mary plus the white lily form a triangle within a circle delineated partially by the lines of the cloak below her hand holding Jesus.  With this we not only observe the rules of great art (the Divine Proportions), we also have the Trinity and the Alpha and Omega.

Prominently placed, the lily declares the perfect chastity of Mary, Virgin and Mother, and because of the inclusion of Jesus, His perfect chastity too. It tells how highly prized and placed chastity is in the order of virtues.

Often artists in the time this was painted did not sign their work and apparently no record exists of who did this one. We can surmise a few things, though.  He very possibly may have been a priest or monk, he knew sacred scripture, theology, and astronomy well, he was a man of prayer or he could not have painted such a richly spiritual work, he had a great love of the Blessed Mother, he had knowledge of damask and its patterns probably from association with royalty and Polish pilgrims to the Holy Land, and most likely he studied art in Italy for a time or was taught by someone who did.  That he was highly skilled is borne out by the simplicity, delicacy and precision with which he executed the work.

Sacred art is a window on the divine.  It should inspire prayer and sentiments of the love of God and heavenly things. For me, this painting is a beautiful subject for meditation, and one I never get tired of.  I hope this will be true for others as well.

If you know someone who loves Our Lady and would enjoy hearing about this painting, please send them a link to this post.  It will help me spread the knowledge of this painting and love of Mary and her Baby to the world.

Tags: art, Blessed Virgin

Suffering and Holiness

March 16, 2010

In the February 2010 issue of Inside the Vatican Robert Moynihan wrote on this subject - that suffering and the cross is “a mystery hidden at the heart of the faith which we must not minimize.”

Agony in the Garden, c.1587, Jacopo Ligozzi (b. 1547, Verona, d. 1627, Firenze), oil on panel, private collection

He points out that “since the Second Vatican Council, when many have rightly stressed that Christians are ‘a Resurrection people,’ but wrongly neglected that…we are a ‘crucifixion people’ with all that implies,” we have, as Catholics, minimized this great mystery. The overwhelming “happy talk” from many pulpits has resulted in a failure by many to comprehend the salvific value of suffering as Pope John Paul II wrote about in Salvifici Dolores. (If you have not read the Pope’s Apostolic Letter, click on the title and you will go to it on the Vatican web site.  It is excellent.)

In his editorial, Moynihan quotes New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan on the condition of Haiti:

Haiti is the broken, bloodied body of Christ….Yes, we all have a share in the Resurrection, but as a race redeemed, we also sometimes take part in His Passion.  Christ scourged.  Christ crucified.

Somehow suffering frees us from worldly attachments if we adopt the right disposition. As we discover our lack of control over our worldly plans and desires, if we submit to God and embrace what He sends us no matter how burdensome, if we fix our eyes on the cross, we see more clearly our dependence on God in a rightly ordered way. He is the one who will deliver us and not we ourselves.  This ascent into truth, as it were, is an ascent into holiness if we learn to desire what God wants for us.

It’s easy to forget in the midst of pain and frustration that God wants only our good and that every obstacle He sends us is a sign of love and an opportunity to train our wills and hearts to desire “Thy will be done.” A great good and a great privilege is to be invited by Christ to ascend the cross with Him, to offer up our sufferings with His for the redemption of souls. Let us carry this message of hope to those who have never heard of this way of thinking, that they may find the purpose in their pain and the special place they have in God’s plan.

Tags: Catholic Church, pain, suffering

A Little of My Story

March 5, 2010

Holy Trinity, 1430, Master of the Votive Picture of Sankt Lambrecht, Museum mittelalterlicher österreichischer Kunst, Vienna

“O Lord,” I prayed, “Help me to grow more patient and trust You more.”

“Are you sure?” He asked.

“Yes, Lord.”

“Okay, I’ll give you fibromyalgia and everything that goes with it,” He said.

“Whoa!  What is that, Lord?” I asked.

“You’ll find out, and I’ll be with you every step of the way,” He replied.

Six years or so ago when I was diagnosed my body was burning from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head.  I couldn’t stand to wear my glasses and couldn’t see without them.  Every morning I got up, dressed, had breakfast and promptly collapsed into bed again.  After awhile I gave up on dressing and stayed in my nightgown.  My mind was in a stupor such that I could hardly pray and I lay there simply clutching my rosary.  When I had a conversation with my husband I forgot what I wanted to say after three words were out of my mouth.  I gave up driving and stopped going anywhere except to church, which finished me off for the rest of the day.

A couple of years went by and I found myself completely discouraged and wanting to go to bed never to wake again.  It seemed that everything the doctor told me to do and prescribed for me only helped marginally.  Yet as sick as I was, I never lost the feeling that this condition was God’s will for me, although I did think for awhile that maybe He might have picked a less unpleasant way to get His point across.

One day I said, “Well, Lord, I don’t get it.  Here You have smacked me over the head with a 2×4 and I still don’t get it.  What is it you want of me?”

“I want all of your pain and suffering.  Give it to Me with joy for the restoration of the Traditional Catholic Mass.  Give it to Me for the priest I have chosen to be your next bishop.  Give it to Me for the redemption of others and to expiate your sins.  Give it to me for My priests who are troubled,” He said.

“OK, Lord.  Whatever you say.  I want to do Your will.  But Lord, why did You have to teach me patience and trust this way?” I asked.

“Because  you were too full of yourself and your talents and ambitions were misplaced. I could not work through you the way you were.  I want you with me for all eternity.  I want you to know and understand Me better, to trust Me more through your helplessness and pain and to share what you are learning on this journey with My other children who are suffering even worse than you,” He said.  “I want you up here on the cross with Me.  I want you to witness to My message of hope and love, and the joy that comes from doing My will.  I want you to understand the fullness of My love for you.”

Morning sun over the ocean, Shizuoka Prefecture, (c)Tomo.Yun (www.yunphoto.net/en/)

And so I didn’t give up, and after accepting two new hips from Him through a good surgeon, and after slowly regaining some physical and mental equilibrium from remedies He showed me through knowledgeable holistic practitioners, I started this blog and put it in His hands.  I blessed Him for giving me this miserable disease and for putting me through the added great pain of hip degeneration; for making me aware that I have to depend on Him for every breath, every blink, and every beat of my heart.  I blessed him for giving me a high maintenance body because I know He wants me to learn how to care for it properly and share what I learn with others. I blessed Him for showing Himself to me both through pain and through the many forms of beauty that reflect His being.  Most of all, I bless Him for loving me enough to have created me and for having put all the wonderful people in my life whom I would never have met had I not become disabled.

Tags: fibromyalgia, joy, wellness

Ukrainian Sand Artist

February 9, 2010

Some months ago a friend sent me this YouTube video of a contestant in “Ukraine’s Got Talent”.  Even if you don’t understand Russian, you will appreciate the unusual gift of this artist who traces the story of a Ukrainian couple in World War II to the accompaniment of music.  Some in the audience were visibly moved.

I resonated with both the artist and the audience and found it extraordinary that one so young could capture so poignantly a tragedy her grandparents and great-grandparents lived. Some people have a gift of interpreting the sorrows of life across generations so that the people of the current age can comprehend the past – and never forget.  And the story of love is universal.

Of particular interest to me was the artist’s inclusion of the Church twice in the narrative and the feeling the viewer gets of the importance of religion in the life of Ukraine.  The people of eastern Europe and Russia suffered greatly in the twentieth century, especially with the attacks of communism on the Church.  But no matter what Stalin and his followers did, they could not destroy the religious heart of the people and thus could not rob them of hope. I won’t spoil the lovely ending of this piece by telling you how she finishes it.

Tags: art