Ευαγγελισμός

Not every Western depiction in art of the Theotokos is a frangopanaghía (Greek, "Frankish madonna," a contemptuous term applied to Catholic paintings of Mary the Mother of Jesus), but on the whole I rather agree that most are. I am repulsed by most representations of "the Madonna and Child," regardless of how "tender" or "sweet" they look—in fact, the sweeter they look, the more they repel me. Because of different beliefs about the place of Mary in the life of salvation, Catholic devotional art often shows her alone, whereas in Orthodox icons, she is almost never shown without Jesus, who is the reason for the veneration shown to her and every other saint. She is shown alone only in those icons where Jesus is not historically present, as when she was a child or, especially, in the icon of the event called Evangelismós (Greek, "Annunciation," or "telling the Good News").

This icon is one of the best known Orthodox icons. It shows Mary on the right being approached and spoken to by the angel Gabriel. There are many symbolic elements in the icon, as is usual, because icons are supposed to be the Word of God in visual form to teach the faithful Christian the truths of faith. Though this icon as written by hundreds of iconographers may differ in minor ways, basically all the elements, down to the colors, are the same in every example. This both limits and expands the apprehension of Gospel truth, depending on the viewer.

While the traditional icon can pass to us some unspeakable truths about the plan of salvation, and while it can help some people "see into Heaven," it does not really give us much insight into the human side of Mary, which is our humanity as well.

For the uncreated Creator God to enter into His creature who is both His daughter and His mother, and through her to acquire a human nature, these are truths that the icon may teach us. But what of the human side of the story, that which can speak to our hearts of flesh in these bodies of clay?

Since beginning this blog, I have found one Western painting which conveys this human side of Mary without detaching from her any of the dignity or mystery of her place in salvation history. Oddly enough, at about the same time, I also found a painting of Moses at the burning bush. The colors in both paintings are sympathetic and similar, and taking the paintings into the mind's eye together also brings out an ancient Christian analogy about Mary, expressed in the Akáthistos Hymn written by my namesake Romanós the Melodist, that Mary is like the burning bush, in that the Eternal came and dwelt inside her physically without consuming her, as "the bush burned but was not consumed."

There is another Western art form that has done great damage to Gospel truth as well as promoting it, and that is cinema. Although there are portions of the film Jesus of Nazareth by Franco Zeffirelli that are not in line with Orthodox beliefs, they are minor and few, and his casting for the movie reflects his careful attention even to Orthodox icons. Most of his characters, even Jesus, follow the depictions of Christ and the apostles in our icons. The same is true, in my opinion, of his casting the part of Mary. His depiction in cinema of the Evangelismós is realistic historically but nonetheless the Gospel truth shines from it. And isn't that what the icons are supposed to be and do as well? They are to depict for us in visual form only the truth, even the historical truth, and the departure from this standard is rare. Hence, any art form that intends to do what the icon does sometimes succeeds.

Here are sixteen stills from the scene of the Annunciation in Jesus of Nazareth that speak volumes to me, and I want to share them. The images are small, but if you click on them they will zoom to full size. Each movie still depicts an aspect of the event. All of them taken together will hopefully suggest what can be experienced by watching the film itself, which I consider in its totality a cinematic icon. I had intended to post this on March 25, but not until today have I had the time to assemble it.

Anna, though not recorded by name in scripture, was the widowed mother of Mary, and hence the grandmother of Jesus.

Mary sleeps.
Mary awakens.
She sees a light.
Mary's room.
She begins to see.
Anna is awakened.
Mary is afraid.
She hears the voice.
Gabriel the bodyless.
Rejoice, highly favored!
You are to conceive a Son…
Anna watches.
The Child will be called Holy…
Let it be unto me…
Elizabeth will bear a son…
Mary wonders.