Why There’s More to this Extraordinary Painting Than Meets the Eye
A bizarre painting explained
It can take a few moments of looking to fully acclimatise to this striking image.
Made by the French artist Jean Fouquet in about 1458, it shows an enthroned Madonna holding the baby Christ on her lap.
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.
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.
Regal Mary
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.
In the history of art, depictions of Mary tend to sit between two extremes.
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…
