How did the representation of Mary the Mother of God differ through time periods?

The perception of Mary changed throughout the different time periods, attitudes ranged from her being of lowest importance to her being protector of cities and a passage to God. This section will cover some of the attitudes of Mary from around 200-1000.

In the beginning, Mary would be shown with the apostles when she was depicted, but that changed aroud 380 when Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of Rome. When he made Christianity the official religion, he also wanted to put a focus on Mary because the people of Rome needed a clear sense of what the religion was and its origin.[1] In 431, Mary was represented with a Greek term, Theotokos, This means 'God-bearer or Mother of God'.[2] Theotokos was one of the first roles of Mary throughout the medieval time period. During this time, Mary was seen solely as Christ's tender mother and was represented as such in iconographic materials.[3]

Around the time of 438- 500, Mary was deemed as the protector of Constantinople, anytime misfortunes or ill-happenings occurred, they turned to Mary and prayed to her.[4] They even created some more churches to pay homage to Mary. During this time, artworks were created of Mary and Jesus and there were not many restrictions placed that an artist could not do while depicting Mary. However in 692, this ideology changed when restrictions were put on how to create Mary.[5] During the 600s and through the mid 700s, Mary was not allowed to have sexual appeal or be alluring to men in any way, this is different from before when pictures would show Mary breastfeeding Jesus as an infant.[5] There was many discussions on how to represent Mary and what is and is not allowed in representing the Mother of God but around 787-800 the church leaders loosened the reigns and artists were allowed to represent Mary more freely and like they did before.[6] As time progressed, Mary was celebrated more and more. In the 1000s, there would be feasts to represent Mary and different churhces would have liturgies about and for Mary.[7] Moving further through time around the 11th and 12th centuries, Mary gained a place in the monastery. Monks and nuns would study and reflect on Mary in her liturgical and biblical presence.[8] Also, people would speak to Mary through prayer and penance, this is an action that led to the creation of the Hail Mary prayer that was pulled from scriptures.[9] The appreciation of Mary further progressed in 1090 and 1153 when Bernard of Clairvaux created homilies and songs about and for Mary.[10]

The many roles of Mary in the medieval times were: Theotokos, the Mother of God; Protector of Cities; Lamenting Virgin; Virgin Nikopoios, the victory maker; Blachernitissa, the ever virgin Mary; and Virgin Hedegetria, she who shows the way.[11] In this picture, Mary is represented as the Mother of God. One can tell that her purpose is the Mother of God because she is not holding up any gestures that would mean protection, or any other meaning, she is just holding Jesus. The focus of this painting is her holding the Son of God. This iconographic piece of Mary was commissioned by a monk or friar for the purpose of having it in his church that he attended. This piece was not a piece commmissioned by an emperor for their grand basilica or chapel. 

1. Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary, (Yale University Press, 2009), Miri Rubin, 17.

2. Mother of God, 53.

3. Images of the Mother of God, (Ashgate Publishing 205), Maria Vassilaki, 91.

4. Mother of God, 66.

5. Mother of God, 76.

6. Mother of God, 77-79.

7. Mother of God, 113.

8. Mother of God, 121.

9. Mother of God, 138.

10. Mother of God, 144.

11. Images of the Mother of God, 91;95;157;195.