Gospel in Art: Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked

Madonna Litta, Attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, 1490's © Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 14 October 2023
Luke 11:27-28

As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, 'Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!' But he replied, 'Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!'

Reflection on the painting

The words in today's Gospel reading ''Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!'' sound somewhat strange to our 21st-century ears. In art, up to the Council of Trent, the Nursing Madonna (or Virgo Lactans) was a common depiction of Our Lady with the Christ child. The Council rather discouraged its use after, at least in public contexts, on grounds of propriety. Most depictions of the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the Christ child are indeed Medieval and rarely later.

Our painting is the Madonna Litta, a late 15th-century painting traditionally attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. In his left hand Christ holds a goldfinch, which is symbolic of his future Passion. Because of the thistle seeds it eats, in Christian art the goldfinch is associated with Christ's crown of thorns. The Christ child often is depicted holding a goldfinch in Madonna and Child depictions, representing the foreknowledge Jesus and Mary had of the Crucifixion. This painting takes its name from the House of Litta, a Milanese noble family in whose collection it was for much of the 19th century.

Our gospel reading is probably one of the shortest in the Lectionary, and therefore carries some punch. One woman declares another woman blessed because she was the mother of Jesus. Womanhood and motherhood are celebrated by this short reading. Jesus deflects the compliment given and he says that if his mother is blessed, it is not so much because she is his mother but because she gave herself over to the hearing and doing of God's word. She heard the word of God and said 'yes'. We can all be like Mary in that regard, and, insofar as we can manage to do that, Jesus declares that we will be as blessed as she is.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-11-27-28-2023/