Conflicting Pictures of Truth (Caravaggio)

     

Sharing a short academic piece concerning conflicting natures or truths found with regards to classic images and art.  MLA style not consistently followed for blog.

     At the Gallery Borghese in Rome, I recently had the opportunity to view a magnificent painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610): Madonna Dei Palafrenieri.  (Vodret, 16 and 64) Caravaggio’s masterpiece is captivating in its beauty and expressive detail.  The painting’s lifelike faces and vibrant colors first drew my attention before I noticed something else.  Looking closer, I observed that Mary’s bare foot was squarely atop a serpent’s head and the young Christ’s foot was atop hers.  This detail might go unnoticed by some visitors, but the theological meaning behind this symbolism is not only rich and profound, it also transforms the beautiful image into something much more complex and nuanced.  The painting becomes something that is representative of the serious divisions of Christian belief that stand between the Catholic and Orthodox on one side and the Protestant traditions on the other; the image is either a work of theological and artistic genius, if one is Catholic, or of serious doctrinal error, if one is Protestant.  Of course, the beauty of the painting can be appreciated by all, but its secondary meanings, the paradoxical meaning, may be met with greater skepticism than its artistic merits.

     The third chapter of Critical Terms for Media Studies offers a powerful insight into this process of appreciation for one dimension of the art, followed by a sort of double-take in which the underlying meaning or expression—not perhaps readily apparent at the first glance—comes into crisp focus upon closer examination. 

We experience the image as a double moment of appearing and recognition, the simultaneous noticing of a material object and an apparition, a form or a deformation. An image is always both there and not there, appearing in or on or as a material object yet also ghostly, spectral, and evanescent. Although images are almost automatically associated with the representation of objects in space, it is important to recognize that some form of temporality is built in to our encounter with any image: phenomenologists note what we might call the “onset” of an image, the event of its recognition, and the “second look” or double take that Wittgenstein called “the dawning ontology of photographs), a historical style, a depicted narrative (as in history painting), or a labyrinthine interiority that leads the beholder on a pursuit of its depths, as when we observe a drawing coming into the world, drawing out of invisibility the trace of something that is coming into view. (Mitchell, 39)

     The willing participation of Mary in the miracle of the incarnation is seldom argued or disputed too strongly within the most Christian traditions; Catholics and Protestants usually can find common ground in general appreciation for her unique role of being mother to Christ.  While some might attempt to argue that God could have chosen any number of other methods to send His Son into the world, the fact of the matter is that He selected Mary. Most Christians would agree that she deserves a special place of respect and honor. After all, if through Christ we become like His adopted brothers, then it only stands to reason that we should reserve a special honor for the "spiritual mother" we share.  This is how the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes her special role.

 969 "This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation . . . . Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."⁵¹²

970 "Mary's function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin's salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it."⁵¹³ "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source."⁵¹⁴   (Catechism, 274-275)

     When discussing the Catholic understanding of Mary, it is only natural to briefly mention the Immaculate Conception. This dogma, made official by Pope Pius IX in 1854, declares that Mary was free from the stain of original sin. As The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes it, she was "redeemed from the moment of her conception." While this mystery may be challenging to grasp at first, it makes greater sense if one reflects upon it. If we acknowledge that God is outside of time, then we can understand the implication of Mary's predestination as hinted at in verses such as Ephesians 1:3-4. God was precisely aware who was destined to bear His Son into the world before even the arrival of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. If we accept God is omniscient and possessed foreknowledge of the details of this miracle, then it only stands to reason that God would shelter this chosen one from the harmful effects of original sin. After all, how can the stain of sin co-exist so intimately (both physically and spiritually) with true good or "life itself, immutable, "as Saint Augustine describes God in his Confessions? Of course, another argument supporting the Immaculate Conception is found in Luke 1:28. How could Mary be "blessed among women," if she harbored the stain of original sin?  Many Protestants at this point would be inclined to argue that these kinds of Marian beliefs represent meaningless and extra-biblical concepts which have no value when applied to our faith.  This is precisely why so many people of faith might strongly disagree with the sense in which this painting invokes Mary as the Mother of God (an example of the communication of idioms), rather than Mary as simply another virtuous or holy woman—e.g. a vessel. 
     
     In short, Caravaggio’s painting of the foot of Mary below Christ’s own foot suggests something more than mere selection; it emphasizes her cooperation in the salvation story.  Cooperation in terms of salvation is a bridge too far for many when we are referring to the role of Mary.  This is an example of the inherent complexities and paradoxes of art and the nature of image.  The painting may make a statement or express an opinion just as clearly as a fine essay.  This is also why our impressions of certain pieces of fine art may change or mature with time.  The first instance we open a classic novel by an author like Robert Louis Stevenson our impressions may be altogether different from reading the same book some decades later.  Age and experience, culture, faith, and media all are like lenses through which we see or perceive the work of art—whether visual, literary, or musical—and these lenses change as we change.

    
 

Cited and Referenced Sources:

Augustine, and E. B. Pusey. Confessions. Simon & Brown, 2012.

Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text

     Promulgated by Pope John Paul II. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994.

Mitchell, W. J. Thomas, and Mark B. N. Hansen. “Image .” Critical Terms for Media Studies,

     University of Chicago Press, 2010, pp. 35–47.

The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical

     Books: New Revised Standard Version. Oxford University Press, 2006.

Vodret, Rossella, and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Caravaggio a Roma: Itinerario.

     Silvana, 2010.