From Mary’s Motherhood to the Immaculate Conception: An Iconographic Analysis of Marian Art in Spain during the Tenth to Nineteenth Centuries

Antonio Moreno-Almárcegui,Germán Scalzo

doi:10.3390/rel12121061

Abstract

This article analyzes Marian art in Spain from the tenth to nineteenth centuries in order to show how popular piety represented Mary’s motherhood. Through art, including architecture, painting, sculpture, and oral preaching, a popular image of Mary emerged and, in turn, became key for understanding the history of the family in western Catholic countries. Studying the evolution of Marian iconography during this thousand-year period reveals a kind of grandeur, and then a certain crisis, surrounding Mary’s motherhood. This crisis specifically involves the meaning of the body as an effective sign of the personal gift-of-self. We argue that this process ran parallel to growing problems in theological culture related to reconciling the natural and supernatural realms, and we further sustain that it contains a true cultural revolution, a shift that is at the origin of many later transformations. This interpretation helps better understand the dilemmas surrounding the history of the family in the West, and specifically of motherhood, from the point of view of the Christian tradition.

Highlights

Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, when the first universities were founded, an effort to rationalize faith emerged, prompting a more systematic development of sacramental doctrine
Studying the evolution of Marian iconography during this thousand-year period reveals a kind of grandeur, and a certain crisis, surrounding Mary’s motherhood
This crisis involves the meaning of the body as an effective sign of the personal gift-of-self. We argue that this process ran parallel to growing problems in theological culture related to reconciling the natural and supernatural realms, and we further sustain that it contains a true cultural revolution, a shift that is at the origin of many later transformations

Summary

Introduction

Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, when the first universities were founded, an effort to rationalize faith emerged, prompting a more systematic development of sacramental doctrine. Mary’s motherhood was envisaged as the archetype of perfect femininity; in the Modern Age, at least in Spain, this femininity–motherhood archetype began to compete with the archetype associated with the immaculate conception Therein, she is seen as a young woman of extraordinary beauty and charm; alone and without her son, that is, without strong ties that define her identity, she instead stands in glory with an expression of freedom and power that reflects triumphant grace. To demonstrate this change, we will analyze the more than 400 works of art presented by Trens (1946), who brought together Marian art in Spain across heterogeneous media, including frescoes, miniatures, panels, sculptures, paintings, altarpieces, engravings, and religious cards. Seen as the perfect model of motherhood, imitating her became a profound aspiration for many

From Mary’s Maternal Body to the Immaculate Conception

The Mother–Child Relationship

Spiritualization of Motherhood

Findings

Conclusions