Picturing the Virgin Mary in Art: New Exhibit

Discover the many faces of  the Virgin Mary at this terrific new exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. It opened this week and continues until May, 2015.

Called “Picturing Mary,” the exhibit is divided into six sections. It “presents images of Mary as Madonna and child, woman and mother, mother of the crucified, Mary as idea, as a singular life, and Mary in the life of believers.”

Some of the artists include Fr Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, and Michelangelo.

The museum website includes terrific links to videos about the art from Smart History and a wonderful online exhibition that allows you to enlarge the art and zoom into specific areas. The images are stunning and might make for a great web assignment for religion students.

You can see a teaser for the exhibit below as well a clip from PBS Religion & Ethics with Timothy Verdon, Director of the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo and Canon of the Florence Cathedral. He explains the changes in our views of Mary over the centuries.

Thanks to my colleague, Jeff Feinstein, who sent me the link to the exhibition. We may try to organize a Sunday field trip to the museum when tickets are free.