Mother of Christians
“Our Lady of the Forsaken” is a prime example of religious praise as art. It is a sculpture painting from 18th century Peru or Bolivia, the artist is unidentified, and it was done in oil and gold on canvas. I was awed when I first saw it at the Snite Museum and I am now looking it through the lens of Gadamer’s three characteristics of beauty — Playfulness, Symbolism, and Festivity. The infants, the flowing of the robes, and the curtains all draw attention to Mary, the heart of the painting. The infants on either side of her have lacerations- a reference to the massacre of the Holy Innocents from Matthew 2:16 and a sign that the painting itself was commissioned for a children’s hospital for mentally ill, impoverished, and abandoned youths. The patients were actually the recipients of this creation. The movement of their bodies references Gadamer’s playfulness in that their bodies move (23) towards the Mother, clearly displaying adoration and praise with their clasped hands and tender gaze. Mary is one of the most recognizable women in the world, and a motherly figure who brings comfort to the infants in the painting, and most likely also brought solace to the poor children. Her motherly presence would have given the children a sense of returning home and receiving love. Some children had no families, and would have been alone had it not been for Mary, hence the painting’s purpose is signified in “Our Lady of the Forsaken.” The symbolic curtains both unveil Mary holding infant Jesus, and veil the embellished gold and jewelry. Symbolism, according to Gadamer, serves as a token of recognition and completion between two or more people. Our Lady’s gaze is calming, looking down at the person, at the child suffering in the hospital, or perhaps a viewer who feels healed, completed, and/or made whole by her presence. I was drawn to Mary’s gaze and her robes, glimmering like a grand, enveloping blanket, which must have brought patients a sense of caring and belonging. The adornments of gold on the robes and jewels, as well as the lush pillows, help create a sense of physical presence, mimicking the original sculpture in Valencia, Spain on which it was modeled. Festival, Gadamer’s final characteristic of beauty, is “meant for everyone” (39), and not only are the two infants and baby Jesus basking in her restorative and doting presence: so are the observers. Statue paintings, such as this one, were made for prayer based on real statues in chapels, and are seen as sacred and devotional objects in their own right. They are used for collective piety and community identity for Andeans, European immigrants, children, and others like me who have been impacted by them. Pieper holds that festivity without divine worship is “inconceivable” (34). Seeing Mary bedecked with lavish gold adornments is a form of joy, worship, and veneration, affirming the goodness of the gift that is Mary and Jesus’ presence (40). This beautiful piece would have given the children in the hospital hope. Between festivals there are times when we can feel forsaken. The reminder of the festival, and the praise of Mary, the mother figure, are all present in the art. The lilies in Mary’s right hand indicate purity, and little Jesus’ gaze to the heavens indicates where the viewer will journey through the divine praise that is Our Lady of the Forsaken, for when we may feel forsaken, we will be comforted and protected under Mary’s calming gaze and presence.
