Why There’s More to this Extraordinary Painting Than Meets the Eye
<p>It can take a few moments of looking to fully acclimatise to this striking image.</p>
<p>Made by the French artist Jean Fouquet in about 1458, it shows an enthroned Madonna holding the baby Christ on her lap.</p>
<p>The Virgin Mary’s appearance is particularly puzzling, being so pale, sleek and otherworldly, as if carved from stone. Her artificially rotund nursing breast is also hard to ignore.</p>
<p>Historians have long deliberated over how to “read” this unusual painting, which is more or less unique in the history of art — and their conclusions are surprising.</p>
<h1>Regal Mary</h1>
<p>The Virgin’s face is grey-white and streamlined, with finely plucked eyebrows and barely a hairline to speak of. She wears a cloak lined with ermine fur and a jewelled crown on her head — as opposed to the more familiar halo. In other words, Mary is dressed like a queen.</p>
<p>In the history of art, depictions of Mary tend to sit between two extremes.</p>
<p>In late-medieval devotional paintings, the “Madonna of Humility” became popular, with Mary shown seated humbly on the ground or on a low cushion. (If you’re wondering why we call Mary “Madonna” then you might be interested to learn that it comes from the Italian <em>ma donna</em> or “my lady”.)</p>
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