Sunday, December 27, 2009

Virgin Mary's Blue Robe

I'm off to Church (Gag me!) with my in-laws (I'll spare you the details). So today's post will be short and sweet!

Quick question: Why is the Virgin Mary's robe blue?

Madonna in Glory, by Carlo Dolci (Italy, 1616-1686), c. 1670, Oil on canvas

If you have answered "Because blue is the colour of the sky", you are wrong. That is a modern association.

The truth is (according to one of my Art History teachers), during the Renaissance, the most expensive pigment an artist could use was blue. Blue was made of crushed Lapis-Lazuli. Out of respect for "God's Mother", the people who commissioned representations of Mary wanted to give her the best and most expensive robe; the richer the commissioner, the purer the colour!

Gotta go, wouldn't want to be late for the service, now would we!

Edit: We were late and we skipped Church entirely. Darn weather! Oh well... (Thank you Mother Nature!)

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2 comments:

  1. Marie-Ange-the-Celt07 January, 2010 12:58

    À l'église? I mean, really ?

    La dernière fois pour moi c'était un «tu ne peux pas leur faire ça» alors je suis allée à l'église pour les funérailles de mon oncle.... j'ai détesté. Mais bon, je l'ai fait... alors je peux comprendre mais je suis tout de même intriguée XD Et tant mieux pour la tempête XD

    Considérant que Marie a supposément accouché dans une étable, je trouve la bleu très ironique.

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  2. Gwenyver08 January, 2010 16:20

    C'était une messe pour l'anniversaire du décès de la grand-mère de mon chum.

    Explique-moi: qu'est-ce qui est ironique?

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