Stabat Mater (art)
Stabat Mater (
It is common in groups of sculpture on a rood screen, and in paintings. In large hanging Crucifixions, Mary and John may be shown at a smaller scale beside Christ's torso.
Description
In these depictions, the
In the Stabat Mater depictions the Virgin Mary is represented as an actor and spectator in the scene, a mystical emblem of faith in the Crucified Savior, an ideal figure at once the mother of Christ and the personified Church.[2]
Part of a series on the |
Mariology of the Catholic Church |
---|
Catholicism portal |
Biblical reference
In the Gospel of John, chapter 19:
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
— Jn 19, 25-27
Similar representations
In some depictions of the Crucifixion,
Stabat Mater is one of the three common artistic representations of a sorrowful Virgin Mary, the other two being
In Christian tradition
The depictions generally reflect the first three lines of the "Stabat Mater" poem:[3]
At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to Jesus to the last.
The concept is also present in other designs, e.g. the Miraculous Medal and the more general Marian Cross. The Miraculous Medal, by Saint Catherine Labouré in the 19th century, includes a letter M, representing the Virgin Mary under the Cross.[4]
The Marian Cross is also used in the
Gallery
-
Giovanni Bellini, 1455
-
Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1460
-
Pietro Perugino, c. 1482
-
Oratorio della Nunziatella, Foligno, Italy, 1625–1626
-
Gabriel Wuger, 1868
Notes
- ISBN 1-4179-0870-Xpage 35
- ISBN 1-4286-3499-1page 37
- ^ Anna Jameson, 2006, page 38
- ISBN 0-87973-910-Xpage 356
- L’Osservatore Romano, 09.11.1978