Wednesday, 3 October 2007

Mary Magdalene in Virgin/Madonna of the rocks paintings

The painting"The virgin of the rocks" is described as a representation of Jesus,John the baptist,Virgin Mary and the angel Uriel on a perilous outcropping of rocks.It was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci.Da Vinci was ordered to paint a center panel(along with 2 other artists) for a triptych church alterpiece panel in a Franciscan Chapel.The instructions for this were specific but mentioned nothing about John,Baby Jesus and the angel Uriel in a cave.The instructions for the painting are as follows:"Our Lady,ranked by two prophets,will occupy the centre of the painting portrayed to perfection.The cloak of our lady in the middle be of Gold brocade and Ultramarine Blue.Also that the gown be of Gold Brocade and Crimson lake,in oil...Also the Seraphim done in Sgrafitto work.Also God the father to have a cloak of Gold Brocade and Ultramarine Blue...The angels above them to be decorated and with their garments in the greek style...Our lady shall be decorated like the one in the middle,and the other figures are to be in the greek style,decorated with various colours...All of which shall be done to perfection...In garments differentiated from each other...Our lady with her son and the four angels shall be done in oil to perfection with the two prophets painted on flat surfaces in colours of fine quality...Also in the place where the infant is,let there be put Gold worked to look like Spinnchristi".What the priors got,however was Mary,naked Jesus and John and one angel,all sat within a rocky grotto and not a halo in sight.The problem was,Leonardo only had a few months to complete this(which was impossible),and so completely ignored the commision and made use of a composition he had already painted for another purpose.It has been suggested that this painting is a representation of a popular 14th-century tale about Mary in the desert,but Leonardo never said so and the portrayal is different to that story.Another thing-teh angel Uriel is said to be present,but the girl in the picture does not have proper wings and Uriel was always described as male.As Leonardo had painted a completely different picture he was paid only 25 ducats instead of 100,and so started a court case against the chapel.The painting was rejected and it's name at the time was"La Nostra Signora(Our lady)".Leonardo was ordered to paint a second piece which became The madonna of the rocks.The painting seems to have been repainted a number of times(like the supper) and the reed cross was painted after Leonard's death to distinguish which boy was John.In both painting's John seems to be with Mary,and Jesus with the angel(Most viewers to this day still do not understand this).The reed cross was inserted alongside a small scroll relating to the other childmwhich states in latin"Behold,the lam of God".But how did that artist know that the boy with Mary was supposed to be John?And why did he assume the other was Jesus?Leonardo never said so.These are just presumptions that the painting was based on the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth in the desert.But there was no Elizabeth,Joseph and the proper Uriel in the paintings,and Leonardo had certainly not depicted the desert tale.His scene was completely different.In both paintings,the pyramidal grouping is the same,with the smaller child seemingly blessing the larger.In the secong painting, the halos were painted on later,like the cross and scroll.In each painting,Mary is wearing blue and Gold.Also,her left hand is poised protectively above the smaller child.The girl,who points at the larger boy in painting 1,has stopped pointing and a major change has been made to her clothing.Originally when painted she wore the red and green colours of the magdalene,but in the second painting the dress colours are surprisingly fudged and indistinct.There is a third painting in this series which is markedly different to the other 2.In basic construction it resembles the original,the scroll,reed cross and halos are gone and the girl is back to her pointing pose.She is also back in her green and red magdalene colours.But most surprisingly,Mary is now wearing green and red too,along with gold,and her hair is a bright red.In fact,she is now a perfect representation of the traditional magdalene figure.This cannot be a mistake as all paintings of the magdalene were painted in these colours and all paintings of the virgin Mary could not be painted in these colours.In the 2nd painting, a distinctive flower was added at the base of Mary's dress-a single arum lily(cala lily).This is the flower with the pure white spathe and a long cone-shaped yellow spalix.These days it is correectly names Zantedeschia after the italian botanist Zantideschi.Much is made in the painting of the exaggerated spadix,which stems from the greek for "Palm Tree",the semetic equivalent of which was Tamar.Strangely, Mary Magdalene and Jesus's daughter's name was "Tamar".In mediterranean europe,south africa,and Britain,it is a traditional flower of the bridal bouquet.Mary Magdalene is a significant bridal figure as is her her wedding with Jesus.It is relevent to note Leonardo was influenced for the rocky setting by the Old Testament Song of songs which reads"The vine put forth the tender grape...Arise,Come my consort,My fair one...Thou art my dove in the shelter of the rocks".In these respects the Arum lily is pure Magdalene iconography.
Leonardo never claimed the central figure was Mother Mary.She was simply assumed to be.He called her Our Lady(La nostra Signora) which is precisely what Mary Magdalene was called by the Templars and troubadours,who Leonardo was a part of.Neither did he state the boys were John and Jesus,or that the girl was the angel Uriel.Seeing as she is female,she cannot be the angel.
We are now left with an interesting scenario that is heightened significantly in paintings 2 and 3.We have a maternal figure who is rather more like Mary Magdalene than Mother Mary, and a girl clearly older than the other two boys.We have 2 boys,One larger and older than the other,with the girl pointedly directing our attention towards the elder boy in paintings 1 and 3.And we have a landscape more european looking than any holy land or egyptian setting.After Jesus's death,Mary Magdalene was also said to have fled the country to France,where she lived in a rocky cave,like the background in the painting.In consideration of all this,a possibility emerges.Mary Magdalene had 3 children, 1 older daughter and 2 younger sons,each some years apart.Given that Leonardo was involved with an esoteric rosecrucian fraternity of Magdalene adherents,it is most likely that this rocky scene was always a romantisized portrayal of the Magdalene family.

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