Symbolic Mother Mary Essay

The Symbolic Mother Mary and Son Jesus The symbolic appearance of the Virgin Mother Mary and her infant son Jesus is recognizable across many different cultures and religions. Images, paintings, and statues of them together have been created for a very long time and there are many different thoughts, styles, and interpretations of them together. Jesus, as an adult, first started to be seen in artworks in 290 CE as The Good Shepherd . However, on the other hand, the Virgin Mother Mary did not become popular and take form until the fifth century. In some religions she is even the central object of worship and in 431 CE the Council of Ephesus “sanctioned the cult of the Virgin as Mother of God” and soon there after images of Mary and Jesus

The sculpture was created about 1260-80 CE. It is a representational piece of the Virgin Mother Mary holding her infant son, Jesus. The way that Mary’s body is positioned is to resemble the shape of an elephant tusk. The reason for this is because it is actually was carved from an elephant tusk and was created in a way to follow the arc and movement of the tusk. In addition, while her body is in this unusual, twisted pose, the piece is still convincing and elegant enough to be holding an infant child (source). ???? When this sculpture was first created, it had an emerald stone attached to Mary’s gown where the ivory brooch now sits and Mary’s crown was originally made of gold, whereas not it is silver . The reason behind these elements changing was due to this piece being sold off in 1811, right after the French Revolution ended. Since this piece was sold, someone along the way must have stolen the precious elements on the figure of Mary and “the Virgin’s original gold-and-jeweled crown and emerald brooch were lost” . The loss of these treasures are a tragedy, but the piece is still a powerful representation of the Virgin Mother Mary and her infant son Jesus and the sculpture style used in Paris, France during that