Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Pietà

(click to enlarge)
William Adolphe Bouguereau
(French, 1825-1905)
Pietà, 1876
Oil on canvas

Notice how the angels are dressed in the colors of the rainbow and form an arc over Mary and Jesus. God placed a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant with Noah. Perhaps this rainbow symbolizes the new covenant.

7 comments:

  1. This is one of my favorite Pieta-s. Mary's face is filled with such profound sorrow....the grief of the angels, the pallor of Jesus' dead body, the bloody crown of thorns and urn at their feet....ah! Breathtaking and stunning and could probably make me cry if I let it.

    Also: I had not noticed that about the angels!! omg!! Rosemary!! (that is your name right, lol) That is so awesome that you noticed that! Yes, I would say the new covenant found in Jesus, and also -- the Flood washed away the sins of the world; Jesus' blood washes them away perfectly. Old Flood/New "Flood". Also, God promised He would never send a Flood like that again; Jesus came instead. It also points to the Resurrection, the rainbow being a sign of hope. Rainbows can only form when the *sun* comes out after it *rains.*

    ^_^

    Thank you so much for sharing! <3

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  2. Yay! I was hoping someone would leave a comment with more about the rainbow! I'm always afraid to write a lot underneath the painting because I'm terrible at writing . . . You said it all much better than I could have! :)
    Oh, and yes, my name is Rosemary. Is yours Ariel? I know that Ariel means Lioness of God so I thought perhaps that's where you got your username.

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  3. I always love reading what you write Rosemary. It gives a whole different perspective to the painting. I have a hard time deciphering the meaning because I'm too busy looking at the faces.

    But anyways, this is so beautiful. I love pietas . . .

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  4. I do the same thing sometimes Katherine! Or I'm so busying saying "Omg I must post this on my blog!" that I don't really take a chance to LOOK at the painting! ;)

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  5. Happy to share, ahaha. xD

    So hi, Rosemary! :)

    And lol, no, my name isn't Ariel, though that is a very good guess what with the limited knowledge you have! I used my name once on my blog, and if you blinked, you missed it. ;)

    My name is actually Rachel. My username is Lioness because that is a nickname that a dear friend of mine has given me, mostly because of my identification with Lucy Pevensie of the Chronicles of Narnia. Also, at one point, on a forum I was on, I had a graphics 'set' (signature banner and avatar) of Lucy from the Prince Caspian movie showing her in the forest, with Aslan's words from the book "Now you are a lioness, now all Narnia will be renewed." On the avatar it just said 'Lioness.'

    Making better sense now? ^_^

    And on Ariel, haha. You can thank Disney for this, but Ariel is actually a man's name. Shocking, isn't it? So is Elisha, spelled the way it's meant to be. xD It does mean 'lion of God' as far as I know, so that is an excellent deduction on your part. :) Way to go, Disney, for using a boy's name for your mermaid. xD

    For instance, in Shakespeare's The Tempest, the sprite-servant of Prospero is named Ariel and he is a male sprite.


    :)

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  6. See here: http://www.behindthename.com/name/ariel

    :)

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  7. Aha! I also thought it may have something to do with Lucy Pevensie! :D

    I never knew Ariel was a male name! I never liked The Little Mermaid. XD But Arielle and Ariella are much girlier.

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