Mary, Mother of Jesus

Discussion and Analyses

The most famous mother in Christianity has always been Mary, the mother of Jesus. At one end of the theological spectrum, the Council of Ephesus gave her the name theotokos—mother of God. This was a radical notion, as critics claimed that God would not be found in a woman's womb. At the other end of the scale, Saint Francis, whose teachings focused on poverty and simplicity, preferred to envision Mary as a peasant mother, sitting cross-legged on the ground, holding her child.

Luke's account is the best known. An angel appeared to Mary, a virgin, and announced that she would conceive and bear a great son. Mary questioned the angel, asking how this could be, as she had no husband. The angel responded that other barren women had conceived (a common biblical theme), as nothing is impossible with God; and in this case, the Holy Spirit would “come upon” her. The birth then occurred while Mary was traveling with her fiancé, Joseph. No description of the birth is offered—only that she had to lay the baby in “a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn”. (Mellon, 2008)

Images of Mary as mother abound in Christian art, once the main conveyor of theological teaching to a largely illiterate populous. Early artistic depictions of Mary nursing the baby Jesus were common. Her milk was a metaphor for the gift of life, feeding not only her own child, but the entire Church. Just as Jesus displayed the wounds on his hands, connected with his saving act in the resurrection, Mary showed her breasts as a source of healing and a symbol of salvation as well. The nursing Madonna eventually disappeared in art, however, due to nursing's increasing association with the peasantry, a growing sense of modesty around the naked female body, and the way such images reminded people of the suffering in childbirth associated with sin, which was linked not to Mary, but to Eve. One remaining sign is Liebfraumilch (“dear lady's milk”), a sweet wine first produced at a German monastery. (Warner, 2000)

Also common in art are depictions of the weeping mother Mary. Known as pietàs, (from the Italian for “pity” and Latin for “piety”), these sculptures and paintings show Mary mourning over the dead body of Jesus. These works became especially important during the Black Death of the 14th century, as mourning mothers were common, ...