apenitentialprayer: Madonna and Child - by dashinvaine.One gesture in paintings of the Madonna and C
apenitentialprayer: Madonna and Child - by dashinvaine.One gesture in paintings of the Madonna and Child offers its meaning direct; and it graces some of the most cherished creations of Renaissance art. I refer to pictures -among them several by Giovanni Bellini [who served as dashinvaine’s inspiration]- wherein the sex of the Christ Child takes emphasis from the mother’s protective hand. In movements of sublime tenderness deeper than modesty, Mary’s hand shields -and converts into symbol- her Son’s vulnerable humanity. This “protection motif” seems commoner in Italian painting, but is found as well in Germany and the Netherlands.- Leo Steinberg (The Sexuality of Christ in Renaissance Art and in Modern Oblivion, page 73) -- source link
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