MARYS for May #23 – The "Splendor of an Entirely Unique Holiness"

The Immaculate Conception

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Oil on Canvas, 1767-69

Museo del Prado, Madrid

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo is the undisputed master of the sumptuous 18^th century style known as Rococo. In the hands of lesser artists these works are simply too much for our modern eyes: too many colors, too many clouds, and certainly too many little angels.  Tiepolo paints in a way that is simultaneously exuberant and restrained; his subdued color palette and the elegance of his composition achieve a majesty suitable for his exalted subject. The grandeur of Mary’s figure derives from his use of a low viewpoint combined with a vertical emphasis, and the great size of the canvas (nearly 6’x8’) amplifies this grandeur. Tiepolo’s challenge was to paint Mary’s immaculate soul in bodily form; and the elegant turn of her body, her dynamic stillness amidst the bustling angels,  and, above all, the profound serenity of her face beautifully “embody” the mystery of a woman who is “full of grace” from the first moment of her life.

Tiepolo’s painting precedes the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by nearly a century, but his painting captures what the faithful have believed about Mary through the ages and illustrates what Catechism teaches about the "splendor” of Mary’s “entirely unique holiness":

To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role." The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace". In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace. (490)

The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son". The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love". (492)