Religious Communication: Blog 1

Over the last month and a half I’ve spent in Italy, I have had the opportunity to admire some of the world’s most famous and impressive works of art. As we transition into the second half of the semester, I have been asked to observe these works of art through the lens of religious communication. For my first COMM 480 blog, I have chosen two works of art to analyze. The first being Coronation of the Virgin by Diego Velázquez and the second being Coronation of the Virgin by Filippo Lippi. As one can infer from their titles, both paintings represent the crowning of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven. While this scene is not explicitly described in the Bible, it is referred to in the Rosary prayer as the fifth Glorious Mystery. At each painting’s core, the main message and story remains the same. Because of Mary’s purity, faithfulness, and unwavering devotion and loyalty to God, she is rewarded by being crowned Queen of Heaven. These pieces were commissioned to act as narratives and storytelling mechanisms to help teach and remind Catholics about the reward of eternal life in Heaven if they act in alignment with the teachings of the Catholic Church, as Mary did. Although this message is consistent in both paintings, the way the it’s communicated is very different. In Velázquez’s piece, Jesus and God the Father crown the Virgin with wreath of flowers. A dove, the symbol for the Holy Spirit, casts its light upon the scene as it floats above Mary’s head and between the other two parts of the Holy Trinity. The main figures of this scene, Mary, Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit, form an inverted triangle which, once again, reminds the viewer of the sacred Holy Trinity present in the painting. The scene takes place in Heaven, depicted here as a blue sky with white clouds, yellow light from the Holy Spirit, and Cherubs watching the crowning. In Lippi’s painting, he also sets the coronation scene in Heaven, but his version of Heaven looks more like a traditional throne room with golden walls and arches and a court of onlookers. Present in this work are numerous biblical figures including angels and saints. In the middle of the scene is Jesus Christ, crowning the kneeling Blessed Virgin with a crown similar to his own. This time, it is not made of flowers. Instead, it resembles a typical crown of European royalty, but it is made of an unknown, almost translucent material. Neither God, nor the Holy Spirit are present in this painting. White lilies, also referred to as Madonna Lilies, are seen throughout the scene as a symbol of the Virgin’s purity. After studying these paintings, it is clear to me that although the works are visually very different, the main message remains the same. The church wants its followers to remember that if you remain pure, are loyal to God, and are strong in your faith, you will be rewarded with everlasting life, just as Mary was.