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| D.O.M. Foundation Stone in Cloister 22 Aug 2013 in deep mist |
In the DGO (Daily Gospel) of 22 Aug 2013, the illustration displayed the not viewed before.
The painting was rather putting off!
For that reason it asks more questions.
Paradoxical, as with the language; "the angels’ arms have verisimilitudinous musculature, as does the Father. Father and Son are essentially draped nudes, each with a winding cloth that would fall to the floor if they were to stand up. This shows off their bodies, and Annibale’s technique. The Son’s muscles are even more life-like than those of the Father and the angels, which makes sense, since he is the one who actually had functioning muscles on earth." The spiritual is more to the understanding in the BGO Commentary from Pope Pius XII.
The Link of the 'Queenship of Mary', below, gives new art enlightenment.
http://dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=saintfeast&localdate=20130822&id=142&fd=1
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| The coronation of the Virgin Annibale Carracci |
Queenship of Mary –
the best Link
In the Baroque era the scene narrowed down again to
present just the main actors.
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Annibale Carracci, Coronation of the
Virgin,
after 1595, New York, Metropolitan Museum |
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Velazquez, Coronation of the Virgin,
1641-1644, Madrid, Prado |
Annibale Carracci
After 1595
Mary is being crowned simultaneously
by Son and Father, with the Holy Spirit hovering above the crown. The
Father is made to look like classical representations of Zeus, and he holds a
sceptre; he seems little older than the Son. The three seated figures are
on a circular ledge with a back that rises to about shoulder height.
Above them are saints in multitudinous tiers that form a half-dome above the
three main figures, perhaps influenced by Dante. A similar portrait of
Heaven as the inside of a sphere is seen in Saraceni’s Paradise.
Below the figures is another modified
half-dome of what seem to be fearful figures looking up in supplication.
That they are singing is suggested by open mouths and the hymn-book in the
hands of the one in the centre. The book has the same extraordinarily
long leaves seen being used by the heavenly choir in The Vocation of St. Aloysius Gonzaga (Guercino, 1650, in the Metropolitan).
Like the Carracci Lamentation, the Coronation explores relationships among masses and colours. The half-dome of
saints is somewhat undifferentiated, so that from a few steps away it seems
like one orange mass occupying the upper fifth of the painting. In the
big central area we again see big broad sweeps of colour – Mary’s blue cloak,
the white cloths draped over Son and Father. Similarly, Carracci’s
brushwork eschews fine details; instead, he achieves representation by the way
he puts down one layer of paint over the other. There is plenty of body
to see, and it is carefully observed: the angels’ arms have verisimilitudinous musculature,
as does the Father. Father and Son are essentially draped nudes, each
with a winding cloth that would fall to the floor if they were to stand
up. This shows off their bodies, and Annibale’s technique. The
Son’s muscles are even more life-like than those of the Father and the angels,
which makes sense, since he is the one who actually had functioning muscles on
earth.
"... It
developed from the fervent language in early medieval accounts of Mary's bodily
assumption into Heaven, in particular
Gregory of Tours' Glory of the Martyrs (6th century) and a sermon
incorrectly attributed to Saint Jerome. In the latter, Mary enters Heaven
as a "glorious queen" and "celestial legions" lead her to
her throne".
Commentary from Pope Pius XII.
QUEENSHIP OF MARY
Memorial
Memorial
According to ancient tradition and the sacred liturgy the main principle on which the royal dignity of Mary rests is without doubt her Divine Motherhood. In Holy Writ, concerning the Son whom Mary will conceive, We read this sentence: "He shall be called the Son of the most High, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end,"[Lk I, 32, 33] and in addition Mary is called "Mother of the Lord"; from this it is easily concluded that she is a Queen, since she bore a son who, at the very moment of His conception, because of the hypostatic union of the human nature with the Word, was also as man King and Lord of all things. So with complete justice St. John Damascene could write: "When she became Mother of the Creator, she truly became Queen of every creature." Likewise, it can be said that the heavenly voice of the Archangel Gabriel was the first to proclaim Mary's royal office.
But the Blessed Virgin Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of our eternal salvation.
Now, in the accomplishing of this work of redemption, the Blessed Virgin Mary was most closely associated with Christ; and so it is fitting to sing in the sacred liturgy: "Near the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ there stood, sorrowful, the Blessed Mary, Queen of Heaven and Queen of the World." Hence, as the devout disciple of St. Anselm (Eadmer, ed.) wrote in the Middle Ages: "just as . . . God, by making all through His power, is Father and Lord of all, so the blessed Mary, by repairing all through her merits, is Mother and Queen of all; for God is the Lord of all things, because by His command He establishes each of them in its own nature, and Mary is the Queen of all things, because she restores each to its original dignity through the grace which she merited.
For "just as Christ, because He redeemed us, is our Lord and king by a special title, so the Blessed Virgin also (is our queen), on account of the unique manner in which she assisted in our redemption, by giving of her own substance, by freely offering Him for us, by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest in, our salvation."
From these considerations, the proof develops on these lines: if Mary, in taking an active part in the work of salvation, was, by God's design, associated with Jesus Christ, the source of salvation itself, in a manner comparable to that in which Eve was associated with Adam, the source of death, so that it may be stated that the work of our salvation was accomplished by a kind of "recapitulation,"[49] in which a virgin was instrumental in the salvation of the human race, just as a virgin had been closely associated with its death; if, moreover, it can likewise be stated that this glorious Lady had been chosen Mother of Christ "in order that she might become a partner in the redemption of the human race";[50] and if, in truth, "it was she who, free of the stain of actual and original sin, and ever most closely bound to her Son, on Golgotha offered that Son to the Eternal Father together with the complete sacrifice of her maternal rights and maternal love, like a new Eve, for all the sons of Adam, stained as they were by his lamentable fall,"[51] then it may be legitimately concluded that as Christ, the new Adam, must be called a King not merely because He is Son of God, but also because He is our Redeemer, so, analogously, the Most Blessed Virgin is queen not only because she is Mother of God, but also because, as the new Eve, she was associated with the new Adam.
Certainly, in the full and strict meaning of the term, only Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is King; but Mary, too, as Mother of the divine Christ, as His associate in the redemption, in his struggle with His enemies and His final victory over them, has a share, though in a limited and analogous way, in His royal dignity. For from her union with Christ she attains a radiant eminence transcending that of any other creature; from her union with Christ she receives the royal right to dispose of the treasures of the Divine Redeemer's Kingdom; from her union with Christ finally is derived the inexhaustible efficacy of her maternal intercession before the Son and His Father.
All, according to their state, should strive to bring alive the wondrous virtues of our heavenly Queen and most loving Mother through constant effort of mind and manner. Thus will it come about that all Christians, in honoring and imitating their sublime Queen and Mother, will realize they are truly brothers, and with all envy and avarice thrust aside, will promote love among classes, respect the rights of the weak, cherish peace. No one should think himself a son of Mary, worthy of being received under her powerful protection, unless, like her, he is just, gentle and pure, and shows a sincere desire for true brotherhood, not harming or injuring but rather helping and comforting others.
Earnestly desiring that the Queen and Mother of Christendom may hear these Our prayers, and by her peace make happy a world shaken by hate, and may, after this exile show unto us all Jesus, Who will be our eternal peace and joy, to you, Venerable Brothers, and to your flocks, as a promise of God's divine help and a pledge of Our love, from Our heart We impart the Apostolic Benediction.
Pius XII - Encyclical Ad Coeli Reginam, § 34-39, §49, §52
- Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
The Coronation of the Virgin, after 1595
Annibale Carracci (Italian, Bolognese, 1560–1609)
Oil on canvas; 46 3/8 x 55 5/8 in. (117.8 x 141.3 cm)
Purchase, Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), by exchange, and Dr. and Mrs. Manuel Porter and sons Gift, in honor of Mrs. Sarah Porter, 1971 (1971.155)
Oil on canvas; 46 3/8 x 55 5/8 in. (117.8 x 141.3 cm)
Purchase, Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), by exchange, and Dr. and Mrs. Manuel Porter and sons Gift, in honor of Mrs. Sarah Porter, 1971 (1971.155)
Together with Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci was the
most influential painter of the seventeenth century and a key figure in the
development of classicism. This picture—a pivotal work—was painted for Cardinal
Pietro Aldobrandini shortly after Annibale's arrival in Rome in 1595; it remained
in the Aldobrandini collection until 1800. In it, Annibale has brought together
two currents of Italian painting: a north Italian sensitivity to the effects of
a natural-seeming light and color, and the careful spatial organization and
idealized figure types associated with the High Renaissance. Raphael's
"Disputà" in the Vatican inspired the hemispherical composition,
while the figure of God the Father was based on a Roman sculpture.
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