Marriage of the Virgin
Encyclopedia
Christian art
Christian art is sacred art produced in an attempt to illustrate, supplement and portray in tangible form the principles of Christianity, though other definitions are possible. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, although some have had strong objections to some forms of...
depicting the marriage of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
. The marriage is not mentioned in the canonical Gospels but is covered in several apocrypha
Apocrypha
The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
l sources, and later redactions, notably the 14th century compilation the Golden Legend
Golden Legend
The Golden Legend is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that became a late medieval bestseller. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived, compared to twenty or so of its nearest rivals...
. Unlike many other scenes in Life of the Virgin
Life of the Virgin
The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the number of scenes shown varies greatly with the space...
cycles (like the Nativity of Mary
Nativity of Mary
The Nativity of Mary, or Birth of the Virgin and various permutations, is celebrated as a liturgical feast in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints and in most Anglican liturgical calendars on 8 September, nine months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on 8 December...
and Presentation of Mary
Presentation of Mary
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary , or The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple , is a liturgical feast celebrated by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Orthodox Churches....
), it is not a feast in the church calendar.
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, essentially the same scene, with very similar iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
, is considered to represent the earlier scene of the "Entrusting of Mary to Joseph", with Joseph being made Mary's guardian by the temple authorities.
In art the subject could be covered in several different scenes, and the betrothal of Mary, with Joseph's blossoming rod, was often shown, despite its apocrypha
Apocrypha
The term apocrypha is used with various meanings, including "hidden", "esoteric", "spurious", "of questionable authenticity", ancient Chinese "revealed texts and objects" and "Christian texts that are not canonical"....
l origin. Wedding processions are also shown, especially in the Early Medieval period.
The Betrothal legend in the Golden Legend
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew is a part of the New Testament apocrypha, and sometimes goes by the name of The Infancy Gospel of Matthew, but the actual name of the text in antiquity was The Book About the Origin of the Blessed Mary and the Childhood of the Savior...
, recounts how, when Mary was 14 (and living in the Temple
Presentation of Mary
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary , or The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple , is a liturgical feast celebrated by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Orthodox Churches....
), the high priest
Kohen Gadol
The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...
gathered together all the male descendents of David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
of marriageable age (including Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
, though he was much older than the rest) and ordered them to bring a rod. Whoever's rod blossomed into flower would become Mary's husband. After the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
descended as a dove and caused Joseph's rod to blossom, he and Mary were married according to Jewish custom. (It is unclear whether this story was set before or after the Annunciation
Annunciation
The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
which, in the New Testament account, occurred after their betrothal but before their marriage.) The account, quoted in its entirety, runs thus:
In fact, neither the Golden Legend nor any of the early apocrhyphal accounts describe the actual ceremony, and they differ as to its timing, other than that it preceded the "Journey to Bethlehem". In the Gospel of James
Gospel of James
The Gospel of James, also known as the Infancy Gospel of James or the Protoevangelium of James, is an apocryphal Gospel probably written about AD 145, which expands backward in time the infancy stories contained the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and presents a narrative concerning the birth and...
it comes after the Annunciation
Annunciation
The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
, but in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew is a part of the New Testament apocrypha, and sometimes goes by the name of The Infancy Gospel of Matthew, but the actual name of the text in antiquity was The Book About the Origin of the Blessed Mary and the Childhood of the Savior...
, the primary source in the West, it comes before it.
Artists
The scene, or scenes, was a common component in larger cycles of the Life of the VirginLife of the Virgin
The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the number of scenes shown varies greatly with the space...
and thus very frequently found, especially in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
; it is not found in the typical cycle in a Book of hours
Book of Hours
The book of hours was a devotional book popular in the later Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Like every manuscript, each manuscript book of hours is unique in one way or another, but most contain a similar collection of texts, prayers and...
however. The marriage scene has been painted by, among others, Giotto, Perugino
Marriage of the Virgin (Perugino)
The Marriage of the Virgin is a painting by the Italian Renaissance master Perugino. It is housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts of Caen, France...
, Raphael
The Marriage of the Virgin (Raphael)
The Marriage of the Virgin, also known as Lo Sposalizio, is an oil painting by Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael. Completed in 1504 for a Franciscan church in Città di Castello, the painting depicts a marriage ceremony between Mary and Joseph...
, Ventura Salimbeni
Ventura Salimbeni
Ventura di Archangelo Salimbeni was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker and among the last representatives of a style influenced by the earlier Sienese School of Quattrocento-Renaissance....
(1613, his last painting), Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico Ghirlandaio was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Among his many apprentices was Michelangelo.-Early years:Ghirlandaio's full name is given as Domenico di Tommaso di Currado di Doffo Bigordi...
(1485-90, at the Tornabuoni Chapel
Tornabuoni Chapel
The Tornabuoni Chapel is the main chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy. It is famous for the extensive and well-preserved fresco cycle on its walls, one of the most complete in the city, which was created by Domenico Ghirlandaio and his workshop between 1485 and...
), Bernardo Daddi
Bernardo Daddi
Bernardo Daddi was an early Italian renaissance painter and apprentice of Giotto. He was also influenced by the Sienese art of Lorenzetti....
(now in the Royal Collection
Royal Collection
The Royal Collection is the art collection of the British Royal Family. It is property of the monarch as sovereign, but is held in trust for her successors and the nation. It contains over 7,000 paintings, 40,000 watercolours and drawings, and about 150,000 old master prints, as well as historical...
), Pieter van Lint
Pieter van Lint
Pieter van Lint was a Flemish Baroque painter, active in Antwerp and Italy, who painted both religious subjects and genre scenes.-Biography:...
(1640, Antwerp Cathedral), Tiburzio Baldini
Tiburzio Baldini
Fra Tiburzio Baldini was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was born in Bologna, and painted for the churches and convents at Brescia, including a Marriage of the Virgin with St. Joseph and the Murder of the Innocents in Santa Maria delle Grazie.-References:...
, Alfonso Rivarola
Alfonso Rivarola
Alfonso Rivarola was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Ferrara.He was the pupil of the painter Carlo Bononi. In Ferrara, he painted the Marriage of the Virgin in Santa Maria in Vado. He also painted for a Baptism of St. Agostine for S. Agostino; a Resurrection for the...
, Francesco Caccianiga
Francesco Caccianiga
Francesco Caccianiga was an Italian painter and engraver.He was born in Milan. In Bologna, he became a pupil of Marcantonio Franceschini. He afterwards visited Rome, where he established himself under the patronage of Prince Borghese, for whom he executed some considerable works in the Palazzo and...
, Niccolò Berrettoni
Niccolò Berrettoni
Niccolò Berrettoni was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He trained with Simone Cantarini then worked with Carlo Maratta. Among his paintings in Rome was a Madonna with St...
, Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio
Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio
Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio known also as Jacobus Parmensis and Jacobus Veronensis was an eminent Italian engraver, born at Verona...
, Filippo Bellini
Filippo Bellini
Filippo Bellini was an Italian painter from Urbino....
, Veronese
Paolo Veronese
Paolo Veronese was an Italian painter of the Renaissance in Venice, famous for paintings such as The Wedding at Cana and The Feast in the House of Levi...
(in San Polo church, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
), Giulio Cesare Milani
Giulio Cesare Milani
Giulio Cesare Milani was an Italian painter of the Baroque.He was born in Bologna, where he was a pupil of Simone Cantarini and Flaminio Torre. He painted a Marriage of the Virgin for the church of San Giuseppe; a Sant' Antonio di Padova for the church of Santa Maria del Castello; and a Holy...
, Franciabigio
Franciabigio
Franciabigio was an Italian painter of the Florentine Renaissance. His true name may have been Francesco di Cristofano, however he also is referred to as either Marcantonio Franciabigio or Francia Bigio....
(in the Santissima Annunziata, Florence), and Giacomo di Castro
Giacomo di Castro
Giacomo di Castro was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. He was born at Sorrento. He was a pupil of Giovanni Battista Caracciolo, but afterwards worked under Domenichino when that master visited Naples to decorate the chapel of the Tresoro...
.
Sources
- The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine, G. Ryan and H. Rippergar (editors), New York and London, 1941, pages 204-205
- Iconology of Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin: A Study