Call for Artists - An Image of Mary Needed to Portray an Ancient Symbol of the Theotokos!
St. Romanos the Melodist, who died in 556 AD, is credited with writing many of the hymns of the Byzantine liturgy. One of the most famous hymns associated with him (although we don’t know for certain that he wrote it) is the Akathist Hymn, which praises the Mother of God, the Theotokos; it is one of the most beloved services in the Byzantine Church. It was composed in Constantinople, “the city of the Virgin,” and consists of 8 strophes, known as ‘Odes’, each of which contains allegorical references to Our Lady in beautiful poetic language and imagery. Typically, the starting point for this imagery is a symbolic reference to Christ, for example, the grapes, an image which alludes to the wine in the Eucharist. Then Mary is described through an extension of this imagery to something closely associated with it. I described this way of generating symbolism for Mary in a post earlier this year about the symbolism of Mary in images of the hospitality of Abraham.
If I were an artist seeking a source for new images of Mary that sit within the tradition, this would be the first place I would look. There is so much symbolism contained within it the Akathist that, to my knowledge, much of it has never been represented visually. I do not know if Romanos was composing this imagery, or reflecting in his poetry that which was already part of the tradition. Perhaps it was a bit of both. However, to the degree that he is the original source, his composition has become hugely influential, as so much of what it contains appears across the tradition of liturgical hymns to the Blessed Mother in both East and West.
For example, taking that example given above in which Mary is the vine. This appears in the Akathist hymn.
Ode VII: O Most holy Theotokos, save us!
We praise you and cry out to you: Hail, mystical chariot of the living Sun! True vine who has given forth a full-grown Cluster, dripping with spiritual wine to fill with joy those who faithfully sing your praise!
I am not aware of paintings that make this connection explicitly (readers may have some thoughts here), but I do immediately think of the mosaic in San Clemente in Rome, dating from the 12th century. I do not know if this trailing vine that becomes the tree of the cross, so to speak, and which bears the Fruit of the Tree of Life, Christ, has been associated with Our Lady. But it could be, it seems to me.
Ode III: O Most holy Theotokos, save us!
Hail, mystical earth, who, without ploughing, has given forth a Wheat divine! Hail, living table that supports the Bread of life! Hail, O Lady, unfailing fountain of the living Water!
However, although I am aware that bread often appears in sacred art, clearly, and even grain, but not a field, the reference to the field as ‘untilled’ is clearly an allusion to Mary’s Perpetual Virginity.
John Constable’s Cornfield, shown below, was not intended as an allusion to Mary. Still, it can now serve as an inspiration for us to see Her in the ordinary images of everyday life. The lost sheep, and you and I-as observers of the painting—numbered among them—are finding their way to Christ, who is the Wheat in the field. It seems that Kansas could be considered an image of Mary in this way—the Corn Belt is Mary Land! How great is that!
Here is my first artist contribution to the new prototype. It is not liturgical art, but an ex post facto attribution to a painting of a field created a couple of years ago. I can now tell people who visit our house that this represents Mary, and the shaft of sunlight is the Holy Spirit; this then becomes an allegory of the Annunciation!
This last suggestion is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it makes a point that I do think is important. The re-establishment of tradition is not restricted to rediscovering the past. Rather, it is one in which we re-establish the principles that underlie it. Once this is done, our fresh reading of the Book of Creation in the light of tradition can give rise not just to new paintings but to an expanding and vibrant symbolism that speaks to the modern era, enlivening the Faith and stimulating greater awe and wonder at Creation itself.
