Mother Mary Come to Me

Mosaic is my favorite visual art form. I’m not sure why, but I think it has to do with its colour and abstraction. It’s durability is also admirable. I have so many favorites, and this is one of them. It’s a detail of the face of Mary in the Deisis mosaic (a depiction of the triad of Mary, Jesus, and John the Baptist) in the upper western gallery of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. It dates from around 1200, over 5 centuries after that famous church’s construction. Mary bows her head towards Christ, in worship but also with sad eyes because her son has been taken from her and sacrificed for humanity’s sins. She wears over her head the purple Maphorion, edged in gold; an indication of her imperial nature. Underneath that we see the edge of her blue robe, indicative of her role as Queen of Heaven (imperial purple; royal blue). On the brow of her Maphorion is a golden star, an ancient symbol that predates Christianity and was associated with the fertility goddess cults of antiquity. Her eyes appear on the verge of producing tears, while her lips seem to quiver with the pain of Christ’s crucifixion. But as she sees him in the Deisis he is in splendour, victorious over death: the Pantocrator, ruler of all and judge of the universe. By 1200 Byzantine mosaic artists had begun imitating the subtleties of painting in their art, trying to reproduce shading and gradations of colour and shadow, articulating the careful play of light over a cheek or swath of waving drapery. Here, we have a good example of these experiments with the medium.

Vishnu Saves the Day

The Hindu god Vishnu has many avatars or reincarnations. One of them is Varaha, the Cosmic Boar [Not Cosmic Bore; though whenever I meet someone who is one I can’t help thinking about this sculpture]. The legend recounts that a demon imprisoned the Earth, known as Prithi or Bhu-Devi, in the depths of the ocean. Vishnu, as the powerful boar, dipped down into the ocean and brought Prithi up to the light of the heavens once again. This rock sculpture showing the event–Prithi is represented as a female figure, a goddess, being lifted in Varaha/Vishnu’s tusks–is found at a site called Udayagiri, which is near the town of Vidisha, India. It dates from the Gupta period, around 400 C.E. In the scene, a host of holy men witness the miracle of Vishnu’s power and the victory of order and good over evil. The Ocean, personified as a male figure with a hood of multiple serpents, worships Varaha. Good to see the good guys winning every now and again. He sort of reminds me of a 1600 year-old superhero, like Superman, who rescues Lois Lane…again. One suspect he had an emphatic “V” painted on his chest at one point.