|
One day I was smoking a cigarette on my balcony in Rome, which is five storeys high, I saw a man getting out his small Renault and in his arms, he carried out his small son. It was a tender moment and it occurred to me that this image of father and son is not often depicted in Western art. We are focused much more on the mother. Our Lady, Madonna Maria, the virgin mother, figures as an institutional artistic icon. This is as she should be if divinity has presented itself to us as a Trinity. It is femininity that ties everything together: the unifier of all the elements and the maker of miracles.
|
The above is an image from a print above my bed at Lucignano. It shows a very graceful Madonna in a sweet moment of recognition between Mother and Child. Rather more than a portrait, it is a view. I’d love to know who painted it.
|
|
|
|
Update 1 12 2006 : Ingrid Rowland informs me that the painting is by Botticelli, at the Poldi Pezzoli Collection in Milan. Please also refer to her excellent article on Leonardo at: http://www.nybooks.com
|
|
|
Lucignano, 25 10 2006
|
