Handmaid of God: The Developing Social Class of the Virgin Mary

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

7 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

06/03/2008

Category :

History & geography

Sub category :

Ancient history

Oboulo.com selection criteria

$ 14.95 Add to cart

Summary :

Introduction
Mary's humility: Found in contemporary writings
Humility as the number one virtue for Mary
A gradually increasing emphasis on Mary's humanity and circumstances of her domestic life
Jan van Eyck: A Flemish artist born in 1385
Van Eyck atempt to dress Mary like royalty to make people take her seriously
The â€oeMerode Altarpieceâ€ by Robert Campin: Annunciation as a vision viewed by the patrons of the painting.
Conclusion
Works cited

Abstract

Although the virgin mary is depicted in the gospel text and other religious literature as primarily a humble "handmaid of god," imagery in medieval representations of her tend to downplay that aspect of her personality. Instead, social class is what is most often emphasized, with the depiction of mary's superior social standing echoing that of the either the painter or the patron who commissioned the work. The royal, "Queen of Heaven" aspect of her personality becomes what is most important, while other characteristics such as humility fall by the wayside. This paper will address two such paintings by northern European artists in the 15th century: "The Merode Altarpeice" by Robert Campin and the "Washington Annunciation" by Jan van Eyck. Both of these are paintings of the Annunciation to the virgin by Flemish painters around the same time period. Both depict the virgin mary at a social standing equal or greater to the level of the patrons - the audience has to be able to view her as socially higher than them in order for her to be respected. To add an extra level of analysis, these paintings will be compared not only to each other, but also to the 1898 "Annunciation" by African-American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner.