Notes to the Gretchie Verse

Antonello Da Messina : The Virgin Mary and Child

Dear Gretchie Verse: One of the challenges I am facing with my docent training is art history. Particularly the symbolism of Jesus. The more I learn about art  the more I realize that Jesus was not Jesus. Well, not the Jesus that I think he should be. Apparently, people painted Jesus the way they felt he should be...like with blonde hair or an old mans face. So, I have decided to post pictures of Jesus once a week and tell you what I think about them. No, don't worry I am not going to be posting pictures that Jesus looks normal. I am talking bizarre Jesus...and they're all going to have names. Yes, I very much respect and appreciate art because I myself have no art skills whatsoever...but these were all doozies !

This one above...well look at Jesus...um that is NOT Jesus. That is a man/doll being held by a lady who is having a crown placed on her head. The "angels" being placed on her head...those are not angels..those are like killer angels. Those "wings" look like killing devices...like axe wings. That is supposed to be Mary ? Did she really own such fine clothing when she was on on the run ? Giving birth in a manger in that garb ? Also, so the mini man/doll/Jesus is holding fruit. According to the picture he is holding a pomegranate. That is one barbie sized pomegranate. The curator at any museum would be very disappointed in me. This painting is found at the National Gallery in London.

 The Virgin Mary looks very Italian and Jesus looks like maybe one of the Popes ? She is very beautiful.....
 

Antonello da Messina

A description of the piece:

The Virgin Mary is shown not only as the mother of Christ but as the Queen of Heaven, with two angels holding an ornate crown over her head. Christ holds a pomegranate, a symbol of the Passion. Previously catalogued as by a follower of Antonello, this painting was probably made in the 1460s when Antonello was working in Sicily (he is documented in Messina every year from 1460-65). It probably served for private devotion. The attribution to the artist can be supported by comparing the geometric treatment of the features of the Virgin with the head of the Virgin in the documented S. Gregorio Altarpice of 1473 (Messina, Museo Regionale). The angels and crown are reminiscent of Netherlandish art, examples of which are known to have been in Naples, where Antonello worked. 

 THE FRUIT
Wikipedia  :
In the earliest incontrovertible appearance of Christ in a mosaic, a fourth-century floor mosaic from Hinton St Mary, Dorset, now in the British Museum, the bust of Christ and the chi rho are flanked by pomegranates.^[93] Pomegranates continue to be a motif often found in Christian religious decoration. They are often woven into the fabric of vestments and liturgical hangings or wrought in metalwork. Pomegranates figure in many religious paintings by the likes of Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, often in the hands of the Virgin Mary or the infant Jesus. The fruit, broken or bursting open, is a symbol of the fullness of Jesus' suffering and resurrection.^[90]
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, pomegranate seeds may be used in kolyva, a dish prepared for memorial services, as a symbol of the sweetness of the heavenly kingdom.


HUB PAGES: 
In almost every religion the pomegranate has been used as a symbol of humanity's most fundamental beliefs and desires, life and death, birth and eternal life, fertility and marriage, abundance and prosperity. Most aspect of the pomegranate come to symbolize something for its shape, color, seeds and juice. To the Jews, the pomegranate represents righteousness, to the Christians, it means life and hope of eternal life and to the Chinese, wealth and many sons.