Venerating the Mystery The Virgin and Child, a 13th Century Icon
The Fogg Museum's icon "The Virgin and Child" captures and venerates the mystery of the Madonna in a way that powerfully awes even the modern viewer. The work entrances the viewer with mesmeric textures and shapes while removing him from the holy and unknowable religious space it creates. The resulting tension creates a powerful and dynamic contradiction that engulfs the viewer and evokes the eternal devotional mystery. Immediately upon encountering the icon, The Virgin's eyes come piercingly to the fore. Exactly centered under a protruding gilded arch and spanning the vertical axis, the eyes are the center of sets of inter-linked spirals. The intensity of the frank and direct gaze must be met. The Virgin's face is created from broad and distinct strokes recalling the organic textures of Van Gogh and contrasting with the more geometric and gilded shapes of her clothing. The brushwork moves through supremely controlled and ever tightening spirals of changing direction from the dark curve of the jaw to the rose colored center of the cheek to the dark and barely visible center of the eye (Figure 2, Feature 1). The motion thus created evokes a mesmerist's disk, a hypnotic spinning spiral. The rendering of the shadows around her ey
Yet for all its hauteur, the icon retains a warmth and serenity that humanizes the scene and allows the viewer to identify. A wine colored wash softly frames the piece top and bottom (Figure 1 Feature 4). The warm, rich burgundy color seems faded and organic, and creates a soft place to contrast with the aggression of the gilding. Wear and age are evident in the gilt field, reducing the harshness of the Virgin's radiance. The edges of the piece have softened and rounded, become inviting. The icon as an object allows access to the scene. That the object itself creates warmth emphasizes a key point: the link between Virgin and Child is one of absolute love as well as absolute focus. The devotion of the mother, the devotion of the child is the devotion seen in any truly loving mother and loved child. The viewer has seen this picture a thousand times before. That these deities love is not alien. Thus the viewer is engaged on a deep emotional level with the mother-child bond. The Icon of the Virgin and Child leaves an indelible impression. It creates a sense of authentic awe. Held rapt by the hypnotic textures, the viewer is confronted by radiant and mysterious power. Humbled by this power, an
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Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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