The San Francisco call., 1908-12-20

years and the heart OF all
Christendom is strained to
catch the chorus Peace on earth, good
will to men," And all the Christian
charity, benevolence and philanthropy
that shall reign during this festal sea
son is but the antiphon of that first
Glory TO God in the highest
So, while we sing our carols about
the star of Bethlehem, we must pause
to say a Hail Mary" to the little maid
of Nazareth, for whether we hold this
story as the rock OF our redemption or
only a beautiful myth, we can not
separate our concept of the Son from
the Virgin Mother
Prior to the fourth century of the
Christian era we find in our scant
authority the features of the Virgin
had never been depicted by the artist
St. Augustine's annals. written at about
this time, tell us: I'VE do not know
what was the countenance of the Holy
Virgin; devotion seems to have been
too closely centered in the divine Son
to turn aside to the earthly mother"
And as an example and proof of this
statement, the earliest known repre-
sentations of the Madonna found in
the catacombs of st. Calixto, Rome,
present her as a mere accessory figure
TO the Child, historic back ground. The
more fully to accomplish this she is
usually veiled. the highest effort of the
artist being to infuse INTO a figure. thus
draped as much grace and dignity as
lay within his power.
But the pagan women, converted
from their gods many" by the teach
ings of the apostles turned instinc-
lively in their worship of the crucifed
Christ to a reverence for the Virgin
Mary. AS they had made their vows
to Venus, Minerva, Juno and the end
less catalogue. of goddesses, wreathed
their affairs with flowers and made
festivals in their honor, they now
turned to the Madonna and the virgin
martyrs. Venus. Minerva, Juno and
the others, being themselves women,
consequently more liable to stoop down
to know the joys and sorrows of a
woman's heart, were naturally sup
planted in the minds of their quondam
worshipers by this most blessed among
women. who, overshadowed by the Most
High, had been chosen for the mother
of the Redeemer Of the world. The
garlands the Roman maidens would
once have woven for. Venus were now
woven for the Blessed Virgin, conse-
quently she must have a shrine where
on to offer them and something that
represented her, Thus, by degrees as
art was called into requisition by the
church for its didactic value. the Ma
donna was portrayed for her own sake.
AS the Christian religion spread over
Europe the Madonna remained ia
vorite theme of the artist, inasmuch as
1t served to express the supernatural
by natural means, and the varying con-
cepts of the Madonna suggest to the
thoughtful mind a correspondence with
the temporal condition of the church.
When the early Christians were
struggling against poverty and perse-
cution the Madonna was portrayed as
a woman of the people. one with them
selves ia worldly estate, favorite rep
resentations being the Mater Dolorosa
and the Pieta. Later When the church
is strong in numbers and temporal pros
perity. sthe Madonna. still sharing its
fortunes, IS clothed in purple and fine
linen. crowned with jeweled diadem.
and attended by retinue of angels.
saints and martyrs. with a background
Of palace halls.
of Christian art were the different
schools of art that followed in its wake.
and the Madonna, always close to :ne