Maid and Mother in Art and Literature

Abstract

Devotion to Mary developed in the Mediterranean world, based originally in the canonical and apocryphal gospels and then in other writings. These as well as the early conciliar discussions of Mary were formulated by Mediterranean males, both those from the Latin West and the Greek East. My hypothesis can be simply stated: Mary was presented both in art and literature precisely in terms of specific cultural perceptions of females in that Mediterranean world, both as maid and mother. The writers and preachers of the early Church perceived her according to the categories of their Mediterranean culture. The focus of this study, then, is not formally Mariology, but the way Mediterranean culture perceives females and so structures their place in that social world. The presentation of Mary may be the best illustration of this cultural perception. Although Mary is unique in the Mediterranean world as a virgin mother, the presentation of her virginity and her maternity fully reflect the general cultural evaluation of females in Mediterranean culture.