From the earliest depictions of the Blessed Mother, we can infer a lot about the main character traits that artists wanted to highlight, namely, from motherly love and her nurturing to obedience to God; they also reveal the different artistic styles developed by Christian communities during the first nine centuries of Christianity.
Take a look at these four early images of Our Blessed Mother:
- Dura-Europos Church, Syria, 2nd century
This image was discovered during the 1920s by a team of archaeologists from Yale in the Dura-Europos Church in modern-day Syria. It is considered to be the earliest Christian church so far we know of. The team was able to recover its ancient artworks, dating back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The dura-Europos image is in line with Byzantine-era images of the scene. Further study of the image revealed details that were invisible to the naked eye, such as two lines reaching the woman’s torso, which suggest the depiction of the incarnation. Basing on such evidences, the Dura-Europos painting can be considered as the first-ever portrait of the Blessed Mother.
- Madonna of the Catacombs, Rome, 3rd century
On the walls of the Catacombs of Priscilla, located underneath Rome’s Via Salaria we have a painting. The image depicts Blessed Mary nursing baby Jesus who sits on her lap and looks at the viewer. This work of art dates back to the 3rd century. It was an era when Christianity was considered as an illegal practice in the Imperial Rome. Early Christians would meet in the catacombs to bury their dead and pray at the tombs of the martyrs; thus this work of art from that age can tell us a lot about the ideals and values of the early Christian communities. In this fresco, Mary is depicted as she attends to the Christ Child; a symbolic of her nurturing style.
- Madonna with the Magi, Rome, 3rd century
The Gospels abound in the descriptions of the actions of Mother Mary and Jesus but they lack in the descriptions of the physical features and appearances of Jesus and Mary. To some extend the early paintings and portraits make up for it. One of the most popular actions that were depicted during the early days of Christianity was the one on the visit of the Magi at the birth of Jesus. This image, dating back to the 3rd century, depicts the Magi adoring the Child Jesus, who is held by his mother Mary. It was used to decorate a sarcophagus now held at the Vatican Museums in Rome.
- Protectress of the Roman People, Rome, 5th century
This is a Byzantine icon that emerged during the 5th century during the time when Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire, and it depicts the Blessed Mother as Salus Populi Romani, Latin for “health of the Roman People.” This icon, painted on a cedar panel, depicts Mary with a dark blue mantle trimmed with gold over a purple tunic, the typical dress of the figures of power in 5th-century Rome. She is holding the Christ Child, who is shown with a book in his left hand, presumably the Gospel. Unlike the 3rd-century representations of similar scenes, we see Mary, rather than Jesus, looking directly at the viewer. The historians of Art have argued for long about the precise dating of this icon; and the consensus has it as a Late Antique icon created in the 5th century and that was over-painted during the 13th century. It is currently kept in the Pauline Chapel of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome.