Comparing The Image Of The Madonna And Her Child

The image of the Virgin Mary or the Madonna and her child Jesus Christ is an image that has been repeatedly depicted throughout history since the beginning of Christianity, and every time it is depicted in a slightly different way. William Robinson Leigh’s Lullaby of 1918 is another representation of this popular image and it serves as an expression of religious and cultural beliefs of Native Americans during this time period. Lullaby is a rectangular painting that is taller than it is wide. In the center of the image, a Native American woman can be seen sitting on the dirt floor of a Native American dwelling with her baby lying across her lap and they are sitting near a paltry fire. The infant is swaddled tightly in a white blanket with blue

Leigh’s representation of the Madonna and child presents the pair in a state of humility and modesty, this is in contrast to the immaculate light we are commonly made to imagine them in when inside places of worship and prayer. Instead of the Native American woman sitting in a chair or in any sort of an elevated position, she is sitting on the dirty floor. Her position not only displays her humility and modesty, but it also expresses the immensely important belief in the oneness with nature and the Earth that many Native American cultures possess. Although the sight of the Virgin Mary sitting in a lower position is a less common one, it is certainly not unfamiliar or blasphemous. The Native American mother and her child in this image are housed in a small and simple tent. Their dwelling is completely void of personal possessions aside from the pair of moccasins scattered on the floor. Their lack of personal possessions and their place of residence are very similar to the conditions of the manger the Virgin Mary and Jesus are believed to have stayed in during their travels. Just as Mary, Jesus and Joseph were on journey, the cradleboard and its purpose to make travelling easier suggests that the Native American woman and her child are too on a literal or metaphorical