Symbolic character of Marian iconography in the 3rd and 4th centuries
The choice of the environmental frame composed of furniture and clothing that do not correspond to historical ones, the transition to the frontal and symmetrical arrangement, the signs of the theophanic appearance and the divine royalty typical of the epiphany lexicon, constituted a set of symbolic indications that conveyed a univocal message about the eminent dignity of that Mother-Son ensemble.
The scene’s symbolic nature did not lie so much in a universal symbolic language, a new aesthetics, whose elaboration according to the Christian conception of the world could only demand a long period of time, but in the iconographic scheme chosen by the executors and commissioners within it, the vast existing heritage, as well as the deliberate variations introduced into it.To this symbolic message linked to the scene’s compositional structure and its environmental framing, another equally important one was added, consisting in an absence that often goes unnoticed: Absent is the indication, through expression or posture, glances and gestures of tenderness, of a affectionate relationship between Mother and Son.
The Child does not look at the Mother nor approach her. This will only happen several centuries later. Mary, at the Nativity, does not look at the Newborn because she is meditating.
In the scene of the Magi, she either simply presents him for adoration or points him out as Lord in Ascension and Glorification.The indication of the affective relationship between Mother and Son only appears in the 8th-9th centuries with the iconographic type known today as the Virgin of Tenderness, in which the Child rests his head on his Mother’s lap and looks at her.
(The Virgin Eleusa).
This silence of affection serves to achieve a double purpose: to direct all attention to the figure of the Child (in the case of the Nativity or the Adoration of the Magi) or to Christ the Lord (in the case of the Ascension-Glorification), presenting the figure of the Virgin Mother as subordinate to Him. Removing the representation from a context of family daily life, sentimental, in order to make clear that its content is not narrative but doctrinal: the presence of the Virgin Mary serves to speak of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of God, her virgin birth, the total acceptance that made it possible, the recognition by men of her divine glory, the role of testimony and intercession played by the Mother in the Church.
The study of Marian iconography from the 3rd and 4th centuries allows us to highlight, on the one hand, the presence, in a more or less developed stage, of the main types of Marian iconography.
On the other hand, the doctrinal content expressed symbolically that characterizes them. Thus, there is also the unity of inspiration of Marian iconography, for which the definition of Ephesus in 431 AD of Mary as Theotokos.
It does not constitute a content watershed, but rather encourages the flourishing of architectural and figurative monuments, in full analogy with what happens for literary monuments of the same period.
To deepen reflection on the symbolic character of Marian iconography and its meaning for faith, consult the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus by Paul VI, which provides guidelines for the authenticity of Marian artistic and devotional expressions.
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