One of the fascinating things about traveling around the world is how much religious perceptions vary by nation. While the people of many nations are connected by common faith and even common theology of that faith, their pictures of that faith may vary dramatically.
Mary, As Envisioned By The Nations
When I was in Nazareth, I found a fascinating collection of mosaics and paintings of Mary, mother of Jesus, around the grounds of the Basilica of the Annunciation.
I grew up with a brown-haired, blue-eyed version of Mary giving birth to little blonde-haired baby Jesus, who was about as white as I am and looked much more like a European or American than a Near Eastern man of color.
Like last week when I discussed the significance of historical places, it doesn’t really matter what Jesus or Mary looked like in a physical way…that’s not a central issue.
Nevertheless, from an anthropological perspective I was fascinated to see how Mary is envisioned around the world. Take a look:
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Ultimately, this exhibit was a reminder that humans, whether in an overtly physical sense or in a more Machiavellian way, have the capacity and the tendency to construct gods (I don’t mean Mary specifically) in their own image…and have as far back as records were kept.
Wow. You’ve gone super religious on us.
I’m out. However last thing.. We have science now. Science. The Big Bang. Planet is 4.5 billion years old. Etc etc etc
It’s scary how people get sucked in to absolute ridiculous stuff that in NO way makes sense.
Holy non-sequitur Batman…
@Andy-Nonsense. He was only making a cultural observation and a very interesting one at that.
Thank-you for that gallery. Very interesting.
The church is way too rich for all the evils they have perpetrated on the world.
A religion that hoards wealth instead of giving it away is not a religion. It’s a business.
Fascinating. We each fashion gods in our own image.
Thanks for posting.
Thank you for sharing. Prior to the 20th century most people never traveled far from home nor saw art “from away”. It’s only natural that they would represent the people of the Bible as looking like they did.
Reconsider word choice on “gods” in an article about Mary. Agree with your point but the context makes it seem like you’re saying Mary is a god.
She’s certainly not a god in my view. It was simply a way to express how some view her and the interesting way Mary (and Jesus and God) are depicted around the world.
I like your curiosity of the world and that your views are not america or white centered. Thats great.
A lot of crap that america is in right now is because of lack of cultural knowledge of most of its leadership that usually happens to be white and in their arrogance of american exceptionalism has never bothered to experience other cultures. We need more people to travel and increase understanding to make better choices.
This was very interesting thank you. I’m not a very religious person, but I do enjoy visiting houses of worship in my travels. I especially loved the Thai Mary…
This is interesting. I think the most accurate depiction based on clothing of the time is Egypt’s mural. And as much as liberals like to make her out to be a person of color, the evidence is irrefutable that she was lighter skinned (Shroud of Turin, anyone??).
The origin of mother/child worship (and son/sun) actually dates back to ancient Babylonish teachings and scattered through out the earth long before Christ ever walked the earth – It was incorporated into Christianity about 300 years after the apostles died when the true teachings of Christ were watered down to appease the masses with tradition and false teachings. Nothing in the bible supports the “worship” or veneration of Mary.
Religious art is a fascinating study. I love the depictions of the Nativity set in the Italian Renaissance, for example. The Cusco Last Supper with a roast guinea pig as the main course is lovely. And I came across a striking Balinese Last Supper a few months ago.
What these all say is that these events, separated from us in space and time, are relevant to us here and now.
Accept it or not for yourself, but the artist is trying to make the story relevant for his or her own time and culture.