Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Ital. Il Sposalizio. Fr. Le Mariage de la Vierge. Ger. Die Trauung Maria. (Jan. 23.) This, as an artistic subject, is of great consequence, from the beauty and celebrity of some of the representations, which, however, are unintelligible without the accompanying legends. And it is worth remarking, that while the incident is avoided in early […]

Some other scenes of her early life, which in the Protevangelion are placed after her marriage with Joseph, in pictures usually precede it. Thus, she is chosen by lot to spin the fine purple for the temple, to weave and embroider it. Didron mentions a fine antique tapestry at Rheims, in which Mary is seated […]

From the life of the Virgin in the temple we have several beautiful pictures. As she was to be placed before women as an example of every virtue, so she was skilled in all feminine accomplishments ; she was as studious, as learned, as wise, as she was industrious, chaste, and temperate. She is seen […]

Ital. La Presentazione, ove nostra Signora piccioletta sale i gradi del Tempio. Ger. Joachim and Anna weihen ihre Tochter Maria im Tempel. Die Vorstellung der Jungfrau im Tempel. (Nov. 21.) In the interval between the birth of Mary and her consecration in the temple there is no incident which I can remember as being important […]

Ital. La Nascità della B. Vergine. Fr. La Naissance de la S. Vierge. Ger. Die Geburt Maria. This is, of course, a very important subject. It is sometimes treated apart as a separate scene ; and a series of pictures dedicated to the honor of the Virgin, and comprising only a few of the most […]

THE LEGEND OF JOACHIM AND ANNA Ital. La Leggenda di Sant Anna Madre della Gloriosa Vergine Maria, e di San Gioacchino. OF the sources whence are derived the popular legends of the life of the Virgin Mary, which, mixed up with the few notices in Scripture, formed one continuous narrative, authorized by the priesthood, and […]

That which the genius of the greatest of painters only once expressed, we must not look to find in his predecessors, who saw only partial glimpses of the union of the divine and human in the feminine form; still less in his degenerate successors, who never beheld it at all. The difficulty of fully expressing […]

The famous Correggio in the Uffizi, Florence, is also a Madre Pia. It is very tender, sweet, and maternal. The Child lying on part of his mother’s blue mantle, so arranged that while she kneels and bends over him she cannot change her attitude without disturbing him, is a concetto admired by critics in sentiment […]

A beautiful version of the Mater Amabilis is the MADRE PIA, where the Virgin in her divine Infant acknowledges and adores the Godhead. We must be careful to distinguish this subject from the Nativity, for it is common, in the scene of the birth of the Saviour at Bethlehem, to represent the Virgin adoring her […]

Ital. La Madonna col Bambino. La Madonna col celeste suo Figlio. Fr. La Vierge et l’Enfant Jésus. Ger. Maria mit dem Kind. There is yet another treatment of the Madonna and Child, in which the Virgin no longer retains the lofty goddess-like exaltation given to her in the old time. She is brought nearer to […]