The Role of Beauty and Perfection in Marian Iconography: Contemporary Responses to Controversial Images of Virgin Mary by Chris Ofili and Diane Victor

Abstract

This paper considers the reaction of audiences to images of the Virgin Mary in contemporary art that deviate from historically sanctioned ideals of beauty. Twelfth century monk, Bernard of Clairvaux, for example states that Mary was chosen as the mother of God because of her physical beauty which supposedly illustrates her moral and spiritual worthiness. It follows that the physical beauty found in images of Mary is inextricably tied up with notions of her “divinity” and her efficacy as an intercessor. The contemporary examples discussed in this paper are atypical, one might say transgressive examples of Marian iconography. They have both received very strong negative reactions from the public. The examples I discuss are The Holy Virgin Mary (popularly known as the Dung Madonna) by British artist Chris Ofili and the Eight Marys by South African artist Diane Victor. I investigate public reaction to these images and try to ascertain how much of the response derives from historic expectations that imbue images of a perfectly beautiful (and therefore possibly divine) Mary. I argue that the conflation of Mary’s beauty and divinity has accumulated in religious iconography for centuries, to the degree that atypical contemporary images might be considered iconoclastic by those who believe that to undermine her beauty is to undermine her religious significance. Such beliefs could indicate a slippage between icon and prototype, or sign and signifier, that has become entrenched through historic repetition.