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The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages

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  • Icon with the Koimesis ('Falling Asleep') of the Virgin Mary [Byzantine]
  • Pendant Brooch with Cameo of Enthroned Virgin and Child [Byzantine (Constantinople)]
  • Virgin and Child in Majesty [French]
  • Enthroned Virgin and Child [French]
  • Virgin and Child [English]
  • Duccio di Buoninsegna: Madonna and Child
  • Shrine of the Virgin [German]
  • Bernardo Daddi: The Assumption of the Virgin
  • Bust of the Virgin [Bohemian]
  • Dieric Bouts: Virgin and Child
  • Master of the Legend of Saint Ursula: Virgin and Child
  • Don Silvestro dei Gheraducci. Leaf from a Manuscript: The Birth of the Virgin in an Initial G
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    The Virgin Mary and the Church
    A mother figure is a central object of worship in several religions (for example, images of the Virgin and Child call to mind Egyptian representations of Isis nursing her son Horus). The history of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, depends on the texts of the Gospels. Embellishments to her legend seem to have taken form in the fifth century in Syria. The life of the mother of Christ was exceptional: she was born free of original sin, through the Immaculate Conception; she was taken to heaven after her death (17.190.132); and, just as Saint Thomas doubted Christ's Resurrection, so he doubted Mary's Assumption. Theologians established a parallel between Christ's Passion and the Virgin's compassion: while he suffered physically on the cross, she was crucified in spirit. The Council of Ephesus in 431 sanctioned the cult of the Virgin as Mother of God; the dissemination of images of the Virgin and Child, which came to embody church doctrine, soon followed.


    Cited Work(s) of Art or Image(s) (1)

    • Mosaic Icon of the Virgin and Child

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    The Virgin Mary in Byzantine Representations
    The Virgin Mary, known as the Theotokos in Greek terminology, was central to Byzantine spirituality as one of its most important religious figures. As the mediator between suffering mankind and Christ and the protectress of Constantinople, she was widely venerated. The Virgin is the subject of important liturgical hymns, such as the Akathistos Hymn, sung at the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) and during Lent. Narrative artistic representations of Christ's mother focus on her conception and childhood or her Koimesis (her Dormition, or eternal sleep). Most images of the Virgin stress her role as Christ's Mother, showing her standing and holding her son. The manner in which the Virgin holds Christ is very particular. Certain poses developed into "types" that became names of sanctuaries or poetic epithets. Hence, an icon of the Virgin was meant to represent her image and, at the same time, the replica of a famous icon original. For example, the Virgin Hodegetria is a popular representation of the Virgin in which she holds Christ on her left arm and gestures toward him with her right hand, showing that he is the way to salvation. The name Hodegetria comes from the Hodegon Monastery in Constantinople, in which the icon showing the Virgin in this particular stance resided from at least the twelfth century onward, acting to protect the city. A later type is that of the Virgin Eleousa, imagined to have derived from the Virgin Hodegetria. This type represents the compassionate side of the Virgin. She is shown bending to touch her cheek to the cheek of her child, who reciprocates this affection by placing his arm around her neck. Byzantine images of the Virgin were adopted in the West. For example, Early Netherlandish paintings such as the Virgin and Child (17.190.16) by the Master of the Saint Ursula Legend and the Virgin and Child (30.95.280) by Dieric Bouts reveal an interest in Byzantine representations of the Theotokos.

    The Virgin Mary in Western Representations
    Most Western types of the Virgin's image, such as the twelfth-century "Throne of Wisdom" from central France, in which the Christ Child is presented frontally as the sum of divine wisdom, seem to have originated in Byzantium (16.32.194). Byzantine models became widely distributed in western Europe by the seventh century. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw an extraordinary growth of the cult of the Virgin in western Europe, in part inspired by the writings of theologians such as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153), who identified her as the bride of the Song of Songs in the Old Testament. The Virgin was worshipped as the Bride of Christ, Personification of the Church, Queen of Heaven, and Intercessor for the salvation of humankind. This movement found its grandest expression in the French cathedrals, which are often dedicated to "Our Lady," and many cities, such as Siena, placed themselves under her protection.

    The Virgin Mary in the Later Middle Ages
    The hieratic images of the Romanesque period, which emphasize Mary's regal aspect, gave way in the Gothic age to more tender representations (1999.208; 1979.402) emphasizing the relationship between mother and child. The early fourteenth-century Vierge Ouvrante (17.190.185) from Cologne articulates her role in Christian salvation. When closed, the hinged sculpture represents the Virgin nursing the Christ Child, who holds the dove of the Holy Spirit. Her garment opens up, like the wings of a triptych, to reveal in her body the figure of God the Father. He holds the cross, made of two tree trunks, from which the now-missing figure of Christ hung. The flanking wings are painted with scenes from Christ's infancy or Incarnation, that is to say, the embodiment of God the Son in human flesh.

    Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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    Icon with the Virgin Eleousa, early 14th century
    Byzantine
    4 3/8 x 3 3/8 x 1/2 in. (11.2 x 8.6 x 1.3 cm)
    John C. Weber Collection, New York


    This image of the Virgin of Compassion, or Virgin Eleousa, is a remarkable addition to the limited number of surviving miniature mosaic icons, a medium first popularized in the Late Byzantine era. The intimate gesture of the Christ Child, his head pressed to his mother's cheek, is one of the most beautiful images in Byzantine art. The poses of the heads and the position of the Christ Child's hand (partially restored) are remarkably similar to a less sophisticated, painted icon of the Virgin and Child in the collection of the Monastery of Saint Catherine at Sinai, where the Christ Child also has light brown hair. Another icon from Sinai, which has five small images of named icons, including one labeled the Blachernitissa, echoes the head poses and hand gesture seen in this work. An icon donated to the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice, in the seventeenth century and dated to the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century offers a related pose in its exquisite Virgin with an elaborate halo, although the image of the Christ Child differs, as do elements of the design, including the details of the face.

    This icon has an inscription in Latin identifying it as the icon that inspired the conversion in the fourth century of Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The saint's vita describes the event: "Then the ascetic gave her an icon on which was depicted the All-holy Theotokos holding the Divine Child in her arms, and said to her … take this to your home … pray all night … the maiden … beheld in her vision, the Queen of the angels, just as she was depicted with the Holy child … [the maiden] marveling at this vision … received from [the ascetic] Holy Baptism." The desire to possess the icon by which the saint was converted attests to the popularity of Saint Catherine in the West in the Middle Ages. Though the image of the Virgin and Child displayed here was of a type that became popular in the Middle Byzantine centuries, the Latin inscription indicates that Westerners tended to believe that such Byzantine images of the Virgin and Child were copies of works of a much earlier age, if not originals from the fourth century.

    It cannot be determined if this icon came to the West with a pilgrim from Sinai, where mosaic icons survive today. The Man of Sorrows mosaic icon at Sante Croce in Gerusalemme, Rome, is said to have been brought to Rome from Sinai. The miniature mosaic at Galatina in Italy is housed in a church dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria. There was also a church dedicated to Santa Caterina de' Sacchi in Venice, which was established in 1150 and survived in various forms until 1806. It is tempting to think that this work came from the site where Saint Catherine's relics are venerated.

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