Woman of the Apocalypse and the Immaculate Conception
Basic Info
Revelation 12:1–18
These themes are treated together because the iconography is so similar. The Book of Revelation is a letter reporting a series of visions. It is apocalyptic literature and thus full of symbols. Interpretation of those symbols has varied with each generation. Many Scripture scholars today would argue that this was a coded message to late 1st-century Christians, offering hope for the eventual end of Roman oppression and persecution. At other points in time, it has been interpreted as a prediction of the end times. Chapter 12 describes a woman arrayed in the sun and standing on or just above the moon. She is wearing a crown of 12 stars. At the beginning of the passage, the woman is pregnant; she gives birth a few verses later, to a son who will rule the world. Still later in the passage, there is reference to her fleeing a dragon / serpent by going to the desert for 2½ years.
This woman has often been interpreted as Mary, giving birth to Jesus and fleeing into Egypt to escape Herod’s persecution as is told in Matthew’s Gospel.
The artistic tradition has often depicted Mary (holding Jesus or not) standing on either a full or crescent moon, crushing the head of a serpent (thus emphasizing her being considered the New Eve) surrounded by light and often angels.
As early as the 7th century, Mary was understood as spotless, or free from sin. With time this developed into the idea that she was conceived without the stain of Original Sin. In other words, when Anne conceived Mary, it was an Immaculate Conception. The doctrine of Mary’s Immaculate Conception is officially recognized in the late 1400s, and artists start to wrestle with how to depict such an abstract concept. In the 1600s, the iconography becomes standardized around the Woman of the Apocalypse.
What to Look For
- Mary’s physical appearance and attitude (expression, gaze, gestures, etc.)
- Mary’s clothing (blue and white usually indicates Immaculate Conception after about 1600)
- The symbolic details of the story (crown / halo of stars, moon, serpent, glow of being cloaked in the sun, pregnancy / child, etc.)
- The surroundings (clouds, Heaven, angels, etc.)
Questions to Focus a General Interpretation
The Book of Revelation is about the power of Heaven being stronger than the earthly powers that oppress the faithful. How does this artwork play with power themes?
Notice how Mary is depicted in this artwork. Is she the humble, faithful, handmaiden of the Lord who said yes at the Annunciation? Is this the sorrowful mother cradling her dead Son in a Pieta? Is this the woman conceived without stain of Original Sin? What are the characteristics of Mary in this artwork?
The passage from Revelation refers to Mary’s role in the overall arc of salvation history. Does that come across in the artwork, or does the artwork restrict itself to being a nice depiction of Mary?
Does the artwork indicate Mary’s purity, or is the viewer expected to have a thick understanding of what the Immaculate Conception is about?
Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation
How do symbolic portrayals such as this artwork bring to mind the essential aspects of salvation? What symbols drawn from today’s world might be effective in conveying Mary’s role in salvation history?
Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation
How might the power dynamics of the artist’s time and place, within Christian communities, between the Church and government, between the wealthy and the poor have influenced the artist’s interpretation of Mary’s power?
What kind of balance does the artwork strike between Mary as model of good human life for women and her being so different from normal human women as to have been born without Original Sin? What might this suggest about the artist’s time and place?
