The Eve/Mary parallelism/antithesis in the light of Christian theological tradition and its reflection in the iconography of the Annunciation (15th century)

Jan van Eyck, 4.1. The Annunciation. 4.2. Adam and Eve, panels extracted from The Ghent Altarpiece, 1432. Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent

The extraordinarily complex Polyptych of Saint Bavo, altarpiece of the main altar of the Cathedral of Ghent, also known as The Ghent Altarpiece, contains among its multiple panels the scene of the Annunciation (visible when the altarpiece is closed), and the separated, naked images of Adam and Eve (visible in the lateral wings of the upper register when the altarpiece is open).

The Annunciation, which occupies the entire upper register of the closed altarpiece, is located in a vast palatial enclosure in whose interior the two protagonists, both on their knees, settle the ends of the chamber, while its central part is modeled by a bigeminal window (on the left side) and various symbolic objects (on the right side). Despite the large compositional distance between the angel and the Virgin, the painter partially fills the compositional void and connects both characters by inscribing the dialogue between them in gold letters. Thus from Gabriels mouth comes the inscription AVE GRACIA PLENA D[OMI]N[U]S TECU[M], while Mary`s mouth sends out the inscription ECCE ANCILLA D[OMI] NI, inverted from the bottom up, as Fra Angelico does in his already analyzed Cortona Altarpiece.

In this Ghent Altarpiece, it is important to emphasize that, despite the mutual discrepant arrangement -- the Visitation (the Promised Redemption) in the closed altarpiece, Adam and Eve (the Original Sin) in the open altarpiece--, both sets are intrinsically interconnected from the theological perspective, in the various doctrinal senses brought to light so clearly by the Eastern and Western Fathers and theologians, as we have explained throughout this paper.

Giovanni di Paolo, The Annunciation and the Expulsion from Paradise, c-1435. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Photo: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Despite its modest dimensions, being one of five panels in a predella of an unidentified Sienese altarpiece, this painting by Giovanni di Paolo, The Annunciation and the Expulsion from Paradise, c. 1435, in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, is very eloquent and rich in meaning. The painter places the scene inside a house with an incongruous structure and whimsical perspective, with views towards the bedroom and other rooms, open towards a lush garden inhabited by rabbits. In the central area of that house, the upright Gabriel and the seated Virgin exchange their dialogue, both with the hands crossed on their chests. In an enclosure to the right, Saint Joseph warms himself before the fireplace, utterly oblivious to the conception of Christ, which is taking place at that moment in the central room of the house.

The most interesting for our purposes is the scene of the expulsion from Paradise, which Giovanni di Paolo formulates on the left side of the painting with a quite unique narrative approaches: Adam and Eve appear entirely naked, at the moment when an angel --surprisingly almost naked -- pushes them violently out of the Earthly Paradise, symbolized by a door. Above them, in the upper left corner and surrounded by a circular golden mandrel, God the Father serves as a hinge to both scenes: because, in the setting of Adam and Eve, he is the Creator who, as a severe judge, orders to expel from Paradise the disobedient first parents; on the contrary, in the scene of the Annunciation He is the benevolent Most High who blesses and “covers with his shadow" the Virgin Mary to become the Mother of the Redeemer.

In any case, Giovanni di Paolo also reflects in this small panel the long patristic and theological tradition on the antagonisms between Eve and Mary, Adam and Jesus, sin and redemption.

Dirk Bouts, The Annunciation, the left panel of Life of the Virgin triptych, c. 1445. Prado Museum, Madrid.

The Flemish painter Dirk Bouts locates the Annunciation scene --the left panel of the Life of the Virgin Triptych, c. 1445, from the Prado Museum--, inside a bourgeois house, exquisitely designed and adorned with elegant furniture, with utensils of undeniable symbolism. Almost on the lintel of a portico-like door with rich sculptural decoration, Mary appears kneeling, with the eyes lowered and the left hand on her chest and the right one extended forward, as in a gesture of solemn swearing. At the same time, Gabriel, covered with a luxurious embroidered pluvial cape, blesses the Virgin.

What is most interesting for our purposes in this painting is the sculpted frame that focuses the scene. While the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel appear on its jambs, the most relevant episodes for our theme take place in the archivolt: in the left semi-arch, starting from the bottom, there are the scenes of the creation of Eve from Adams rib, God forbidding our first parents to eat from the Tree of Good and Evil (visible among them, with the snake/devil already coiled around its trunk), the original sin with the serpent in the same situation; in the right semi-arch, from top to bottom, the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, the sufferance of both after the expulsion (Adam working the earth with sweat, Eve with Cain and Abel children, after giving birth to them with pain) and finally, Cain killing his brother Abel.

In this panel, Dirk Bouts also illustrates clearly, and with larger projection, the antitheses we are analyzing; because, in addition to the already known antitheses, Eve's disobedience/Mary's obedience, sinner Adam/Redeemer Christ, original sin/Redemption, the artist now adds, with the final scene of the murder of Abel, the antithesis between the sins after the Original Fall and the universal Redemption that Christ guarantees for every sin of all human beings.

The Annunciation, from a Book of Hours (data unknown)

This anonymous Annunciation, a miniature of a Book of Hours whose data we do not know, is singularly interesting in our issue. From the outset, the inversion of both protagonists` positions sounds somewhat exceptional, with Mary on the left side and the genuflecting angel on the right, who also points to the Virgin with his left hand while holding the heralds staff with the right hand. The scene takes place inside a fanciful palace, adorned with large statues (prophets?), whose central space the monumental throne on which the Virgin is seated fills largely. At the same time, God the Father, wearing a papal tiara and surrounded by a blue mandorla, send from on high the dove of the Holy Spirit.

But more than that strange compositional inversion of the angel and the Virgin, and more than the unusual palace open to the landscape, it is worth highlighting here the scene of Original Sin, located at the bottom of the central sector, just as the link between Mary and Gabriel. Such a deliberate dispositive circumstance has been designed undoubtedly to make more evident the essential connexion between the Fall of the progenitors of mankind and their Redeemer, who is being conceived at that instant in Mary's womb. In that scene, our first parents remain next to the Earthly Paradise Tree, already trying to cover their nakedness by being ashamed of their sin after having accepted the deceptive proposal of the devil/serpent with the head of a woman, curled up in the tree.

Giovanni Francesco Maineri, The Annunciation, f 13 from the Pico della Mirandola Book of Hours Use of Rome (,The Mirandola Hours'), c. 1490/99. Padua or Venice. The British Library

Giovanni Francesco Maineri poses this exquisite miniature of the Annunciation from the Book of Hours of Pico de la Mirandola according to a highly complex composition, ornamented with a multitude of decorative elements, in the middle of a “palace” that is structured on three levels and opens completely into outer space.

Apart from these ornamental elements, including the two coats of arms --by Galeotto Pico della Mirandola (on the left) and Bianca Maria d`Este (on the right)-- it is essential to highlight the contrast between the scene of the Annunciation in the middle level of the “palace,” and that of Original Sin on the lower level. The Annunciation, designed in the shape of a triangle, whose top is occupied by God the Father, surrounded by a cohort of angels at the top of the page, while the vertices of the base are occupied by Gabriel and Mary, both covered by splendid robes. In the absence of the dove of the Holy Spirit and the fertilizing ray of light emanated by the Most High, the impregnation of the Virgin is here visualized by Christ himself, who, in the form of a naked little child, is already descending from heaven towards the Virgin This subject of Christ represented as a naked little child (often carrying a cross on his shoulders), after emerging sporadically in the 14th century, was relatively frequent in the 15th, until it was definitively prohibited by the Council of Trent, at the risk that could induce to the error of believing that the body of Christ came already formed from heaven, without having been begotten in Mary's womb..

In the Original Sin scene, Adam and Eve appear, who is taking the apple that the serpent/devil with a female bust, curled around the Tree of Life, urges them to eat, in contravention of the explicit order of the Creator.

Also, in this precious miniature, the links/contrasts between Eve and Mary, Adam and Christ, original sin and the redemption of mankind turn out to be meridians, in perfect correspondence with the solid doctrinal tradition that the Fathers and theologians of Eastern and Western Churche, as we have already explained.

Conclusions

At the end of the current study, we can reach three main conclusions.

First, an in-depth analysis of the patristic, theological and liturgical primary sources allows us to highlight a millenarian, solid doctrinal tradition on various parallelisms/antitheses between Eve and the Virgin Mary, between Adam and Christ and between sin-death and redemption-life.

Second, through the iconographic analysis of several paintings of the Annunciation of the 15 th century that incorporate in the scene the figures of Adam and Eve, we have verified their essential relationship with the dogmatic content of the Annunciation.

Third, through the comparative analysis of these patristic, theological and liturgical texts, we have confirmed that these paintings of the Annunciation with our first parents reflect the firmly established Christian tradition on the parallelisms/antitheses mentionned above.

References

1. Adamus a Sancto Victore, “Sequentiae III. Dominica intra octavas Nativitatis. PL 196, 1431-1434.

2. Alvarez Campos. S. (comp.). Corpus Marianum Patristicum (Burgos, Aldecoa, 19701981), 7 vols.

3. AmbrosiusMediolanensis, Sermo 45, 2, pl 17, 715.

4. Athanasius Alexandrinus, Sermo de Maria Dei Matre et de Elisabeth Ioannis matre. In S. Alvarez Campos (comp.), Corpus Marianum Patristicum (Burgos: Aldecoa, 1970), vol. II, 64.

5. Bernardus Claraevallensis, Sermones en alabanza de la Virgen Madre Sermones. Homiha II. In laudibus Virginis Matris Homiha II.. In Obras completas de San Bernardo. Edition bilingьe promovida por la Conferencia Regional Espanola de Abades Cistercienses, vol. II. Tratados (2°), (Madrid, La Editorial Catolica, Col. BAC, 1984), 616.

6. Cyrillus Alexandrinus, Cathechesis XII. De Christo incarnato, 15. PG 33, 742.

7. Ephraem Syrus, Hymni de Ecclesia 45. En: S. Alvarez Campos (comp.), Corpus Marianum Patristicum, (Burgos: Aldecoa, 1970), vol. II, 511.

8. Ephraem Syrus, Sermo de Domino nostro 3. In S. Alvarez Campos (comp.), Corpus Marianum Patristicum (Burgos: Aldecoa, 1970), vol. II, 513.

9. Ephraem Syrus, Hymni de Ecclesia 35. In S. Alvarez Campos (comp.), Corpus Marianum Patristicum (Burgos: Aldecoa, 1970), vol. II, 509.

10. Eleutherius Tornacensis, Sermo in Annunciationis festum. PL 65, 97.

11. Epiphanius Salaminis, Adversus Haereses, 78, 18. PG 42, 700.

12. Hesychius Hierosolymitanus, Sermo V. Ejusdem de eadem [Sancta Maria Deipara] PG 93, 1462.

13. Hieronymus Stridonensis, Epistula XXII, 21. PL 22, 408.

14. Hymnus 324. Ad b. V. Mariam, In Mone, FJ. (ed.), Hymni Latini Medii Aevi. E Codd. Mss. Edidit et adnotationibus illustravit Franc. Jos. Mone. Tomus Secundus. Hymni ad. B.V. Mariam (Friburgi Brisgoviae: Sumptibus Herder, 1854), 6.

15. Hymnus 326. De conceptione s. Mariae virg. In Mone, 8-9.

16. Hymnus 357. De b. Maria. Prosa. In Mone, 49.

17. Hymnus 363. De annnuntiatione. Prosa. In Mone, 55.

18. Hymnus 420. Purification« b. Mariae v. In Mone, 129.

19. Hymnus 492. Oratio de b. M.v. In Mone, 212.

20. Hymnus 498. Oratio super Ave maris stella. In Mone, 221.

21. Iohannes Damascenus, Homilia in Annuntiationem B.V. Mariae. PG 96, 650.

22. Iohannes Damascenus, Homilia I In Nativitatem B.V. Mariae, 1. PG 96, 662.

23. Iohannes Damascenus, Homilia I In Dormitionem B.V. Mariae, 7. PG 96, 710.

24. Iohannes Damascenus, Homilia II In Dormitionem B.V. Mariae, 3. PG 96, 727.

25. Iohannes Damascenus, Homilia II In Dormitionem B.V. Mariae, 8. PG 96, 734-735.

26. Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus Haereses. Liber III, 22,4. PG 7-1, 858-860.

27. Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus Haereses. Liber V, 19.1. PG 7-2, 1.175.

28. Justinus, Dialogus cum Tryphone Judaeo. PG 6, 709-711.

29. Migne, J.-P, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca (Paris: Garnier, 18571867), 166 vols.

30. Migne, J.-P., Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina (Paris: Garnier, 1844-1864, 221 vols.

31. Mone, F.J., (ed.), Hymni Latini Medii Aevi. E Codd. Mss. Edidit et adnotationibus illustravit Franc. Jos. Mone. Tomus Secundus. Hymni ad. B.V. Mariam (Friburgi Brisgoviae: Sumptibus Herder, 1854).

32. Petrus Abelardus, Sermo XXVI. In Assumptione Beatae Mariae. PL 178, 539-547.

33. Petrus Blesensis. Sermo XXXIV, In eadem Assumptione. PL 207, 663-665.

34. Proclus Constantinopolitanus, Oratio De Incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi, 3. PG 65, 695.

35. Proclus Constantinopolitanus, Oratio De Laudibus sanctae Mariae, 16. PG 65, 751.

36. Procopius Gazensis, Commentarius in Genesin, Vers. 16. PG 87-1, 212.

37. Venantius Fortunatus, O Gloriosa Domina. Miscellanea. Liber VIII. Caput IV. De Sancta Maria. PL 88, 265.

38. Zeno Veronensis, Liber I, Tractatus II, 9. PL 11, 278.

39. Bibliography:

40. Aldama, J. A. de, Maria en la Patristica de los siglos I y II (Madrid: La Editorial Catolica, 1970).

41. Angulo Iniguez, D., Museo del Prado. Pintura italiana anterior a 1600 (Madrid: Gredos, 1979).

42. Argan, G.C., Fra Angelico. Йtude biographique et critique (Genиve: Skira, 1965).

43. Baldini, U., L'opera completa dellAngelico (Milano: Rizzoli, 1970).

44. Barre, H., “Le mystиre d'Иve а la fia de l'йpoque patristique en Occident", Йtudes Mariales 13 (1855), 61-97.

45. Bartz, G., Guido di Piero, llamado Fra Angelico. Hacia 1395-1455 (Colonia: Kцnemann, 2000).

46. Bastero deEleizalde, J. L., Maria, Madre del Redentor (Pamplona, Eunsa, 1995).

47. Buendia, J.R. et al., El Prado. Colecciones de pintura (Barcelona / Madrid: Lunwerg, 1994).

48. Burghardt, W.J., “Maria en el pensamiento de los Padres orientales. I. La nueva Eva". In Carol, J.B. Mariok^a (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1964), 488-499.

49. Capelle, B., “Le thиme de la Nouvelle Иve chez les anciens docteurs latins" Йtudes Mariales 12 (1954), 55-76.

50. Carol, J.B., Mariolog^a (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1964).

51. Cignelli, L., Maria nuova Eva nella Patrologia greca (sec. II-V) (Assisi: Studio Teologico “Porziuncola”, 1966).

52. Cruz Valdovinos, J.M., “Escuela italiana" In Buend^a, J.R. et al., El Prado. Colecciones de pintura, 211-350.

53. de Fiores, S., Maria, Madre de Jesus. Smtesis historico-salvfica (Salamanca: Secretariado Trinitario, 2002).

54. de Fiores, S., Maria, sintesis de valores. Historia cultural de la mariolog^a (Madrid: Ediciones San Paolo, 2011).

55. de Fiores, S. & Meo, S. (dirs.). Nuevo Diccionario di Mariolog^a (Madrid: Ediciones Paulinas, 19864).

56. Garcia Paredes, J. C. R., Mariolog^a, (Madrid, Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 2015), 1474-1487

57. Hauke, M., Introduction a la Mariolog^a (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 2015).

58. Laurentin, R. & Meo, S., “Nueva Eva" In de Fiores, S. & Meo, S. (dirs.). Nuevo Diccionario di Mariolog^a (Madrid: Ediciones Paulinas, 19864)1474-1787.

59. Mateo Seco, L., “Maria, nueva Eva, segun ls Padres", Estudios Marianos 50 (1985), 53-69.

60. Ponce Cuйllar, M., Maria, madre del Redentor y de la Iglesia (Barcelona: Herder, 2001).

61. Pope-Hennessy, J., Fra Angelico (London, Phaidon Press, 1952).

62. Pope-Hennessy, J., Fra Angelico (Florencia: Scala / Nueva York: Riverside, 1992).

63. Romero Pose, E., “El paralelismo Eva-Maria en la primera teolog^a cristiana", Estudios Marianos 64 (1998), 158-163.

64. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “The house/palace in Annunciations of the 14th and 15th centuries. Iconographic interpretation in light of the Latin patristic and theological tradition", Eikon Imago 15 (2021).

65. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “The bed in images of the Annunciation (14th-15th centuries): An iconographic interpretation according to Latin Patristics", De Medio Aevo, 15-1 (2021), 77-93.

66. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “The bed in images ofthe Annunciation ofthe 14th and 15th centuries. A dogmatic symbol according to Greek-Eastern Patrology”, Imago. Revista de Emblematica y Cultura Visual, 12 (2020), 7-31.

67. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “The symbol of light's ray in images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries according to Greek Patrology”, Histцria Revista, 25 / 3 (2020), 334- 355.

68. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “The temple in images of the Annunciation: a double dogmatic symbol according to the Latin theological tradition (6th-15th centuries)”, De Medio Aevo, 14 (2020), 56-68.

69. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “Haec porta Domini. Exegeses of some Greek Church Fathers on Ezekiel's porta clausa (5th-10th centuries)”, Cauriensia 15 (2020). 615633.

70. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “Iconographic Interpretation of the Temple as a Theological Symbol in Images of the Annunciation of the 14th and 15th Centuries”, Fenestella. Inside Medieval Art 1 (2020), 23-41.

71. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “The Symbol of Bed (Thalamus) in Images of the Annunciation ofthe 14th-15th Centuries in the Light ofLatin Patristics”, International Journal of History, vol. 5, n. 4 (2019), 49-70.

72. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “The house/palace in Annunciations of the 14th and 15th centuries. Iconographic interpretation in light of the Latin patristic and theological tradition”, Eikцn Imago, 15 (2021).

73. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “La Anunciaciцn de Fra Angelico en el Museo del Prado. Interpretaciцn de sus significados doctrinales”. In de Paz Amйrigo, P. & Sanz Extremeno, I. (eds.), Eulog^a. Estudios sobre cristianismo primitivo. Homenaje a Mercedes Lцpez Salva (Madrid: Guillermo Escolar Editor, 2018), 345-367.

74. Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., “Capftulo 3. La Anunciaciцn” In Salvador-Gonzalez, J. M., Ancilla et Regina. Aproximaciones a la iconografia mariana en la Edad Media (Saarbrьcken: Editorial Acadйmica Espanola, 2012). 73-104).

75. Sarabia, A., Cinco Anunciaciones en el Museo del Prado (Madrid: Fundaciцn Amigos del Museo del Prado, 1998).

76. Scudieri, M. & Giacomelli, S., Fra Giovanni Angelico. Pittore miniatore o miniatore pittore? (Firenze: Giunti, Firenze Musei, 2007).

77. Zuccari, A., Morello, G. & de Simone, G. (a cura di), Beato Angelico. L'alba del Rinascimento (Roma, Musei Capitolini, 8 aprile-5 luglio 2009, Ginevra / Milano: Skira, 2009).

78. Zuccari, A., “Simbolismi medievali e forme rinascimentali: la 'porta dischiusa' nell'arte dellAngelico” In Zuccari, Morello & de Simone, Beato Angelico. L'alba del Rinascimento, 247-274.

Размещено на Allbest.ru