The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1954-12-17
Mary And The Artists
By Robert Fsrr

By Robert Fsrr
This Christmas eve, al Cannes
in southern France, a few towns
people before going to midnight
Mass will gather in two small
rooms which the Capra family call
home. Ten-year-oid Edouard will
bring out a package wrapped in
newspapers. then carefully lift
from 1t number of Madonnas. He
viii place them on the mantel for
all to admire.
Actually these paintings are
just portraits of Edouard's mother.
But through her the young artist
has pictured the Universal Mother,
Mary, and called his pictures Ma
donnas.
To young Capra, as to the old
masters, Mary is more than just
symbol. She is a force for greater
achievement. In this time young
Edouard may produce masterpieces
that will be honored for centuries,
like the Madonnas of Andrea del
Sarto, Raphael, BotticelIi, Fra
Lippo Lippi, and the others.
The word which the masters
coined for Mary, Madonna" !" some
how has come to mean any pure
mother-one whose motherhood is
not the unwanted consequence of
selfishness. In art Madonnas have
become an expression of mans
faith, and his respect for women.
The brush strokes of Raphael's
Madonna of the Grand Duke" or
of Botticelli's Virgin, Infant and
st. John" present Mary as a com
bination of love, purity. gentle.
ness, and love. For more than five
centuries man has responded, de-
votionally to these works, trying
to grasp the effect of these master
pieces, seeking to capture the in,
spiration. II you once grasp that in.
spiration, yours is an experience
to treasure for the rest of your life
you will have had an experience in
faith.
Many a pretty face has smiled
men to their doom, but the face oi
the Blessed Virgin, so beautiful
and so pure, has for centuries
aroused men to the highest sane
tity, prompted women to make then
souls like hers so that her spiritual
beauty might be reflected in then
features.
What do people think about a:
they look at the Madonnas?
In New York recently an exhibi
tion of the great Madonnas was
held at a private gallery. Most oi
the pictures were not originals but
faithful copies by modern artists.
One old man stood before Ra
phael's Madonna of the Chair.
This picture, painted three years
before the artists death, is prob
ably the most popular of his com
positions. The original is only q
inches in diameter, yet he depicts
successfully in this masterpiece
what people love to look upon.
"The thing that impresses mt
about this and the other great Ma
donnas is the closeness with which
the Virgin holds the child to her,
observed the old man. ''This sym
bolizes, ] think, the close relation
between all women - especial.
mothers - and life. BY theil
strength and sometimes ruthless
ness, men dominate the drama o
current events; but women, il
their wonderful subtle ways. molt
the future. Women create the al
mosphere in which men evolve
They shape the lives of the mel
who make history.
"All future life comes from thu
body of the mother where, fol
nine long and lovely months, th'
child hesitates on the thresholt
of the world"
A school teacher was looking a
Pierre Mignard's ''The Virgin o
the Grape" notable for its toucl
of humor-the way the Child peers
out from under Mary's headdress
Mary holds q bunch of grapes, al
if trying to teach the child some
thing of the wonder of the famous
fruit.
"From the mothers mind" de
clared the schoolteacher, "comei
the first truths that the chile
learns. From her soul comes re
| ligious ideals and moral principles
good or bad. From her heart comei
the child's first loves and hates. I
is the mothers of the world WHIT
teach children how to act, and whit
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