It's something about Mary...and Jesus...

Giovanni Da Modena

Giovanni Da Modena Madonna and Child: It's a 15th century painting. I couldn't find out a lot about this painting. I want to know why Mary and Jesus have greyish like faces. It makes Jesus look so much older. The painting is done on wood and I can't tell if it's been done in oils or done in Tempera, but I would say Tempera. What are Jesus and Mary looking at in this painting ? Is Christ holding a towel or a scroll ? Is Mary's ring symbolic of anything ? What is on the chest of Jesus ? It looks like he's been stabbed with blood coming out like an artery... 

Sandro Botticelli Virgin and Child 


Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Sandro Botticelli (Italian:  1445- May 17, 1510), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. He belonged to the Florentine School under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici, a movement that Giorgio Vasari would characterize less than a hundred years later as a "golden age", a thought, suitably enough, he expressed at the head of his Vita of Botticelli. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century; since then his work has been seen to represent the linear grace of Early Renaissance painting. Among his best known works are 

The Birth of Venus and

 Primavera.

Yes, Jesus has the face of an old man. Based on other works by Sando Botticelli I just don't have the heart to really poke at it. I love his work. His Virgin and Child is painted with tempera paint and wood. 

Aelbrecht Bouts

Workshop of Dirk Bouts. Madonna and Child between St. Peter and St. Paul (1460)

Dirk Bouts Virgin and Child
These last three are ...well they obviously look the same. Christ to me is so skinny compared to the other two. His legs and arms look like sticks. Mary is offering her breast to Christ. I guess after looking at these three paintings I would discuss the iconography of Mary. Why is Mary offering her breast in so many paintings? Why is she reading the scriptures? Why is she in blue and her robe in red. 

Blue colors symbolize heavenly grace. The Virgin Mary is often depicted wearing blue clothing. Blue also represents hope, good health and the state of servitude  

Red colors symbolize the Holy Spirit and is the color of Pentecost. Red also represents fire and is associated with power and importance. Crimson red also symbolizes the presence of God and the blood of martyrs. It is the Christian liturgical color for Pentecost and represents atonement and humility 

Green colors symbolize nature, fertility, hope and bountifulness. Green symbolizes freedom from bondage. Green is the Christian color for the season of Epiphany

White symbolizes Purity, virginity, innocence and virtue. It also symbolizes holiness and is the Christian color for all high Holy Days of the Church Year, especially the seasons of Christmas and Easter 

In many paintings, Mary is offering her breast to Christ. Symbolically speaking this is VERY powerful. I found THIS ARTICLE that explains it's importance in art.