May is the month of Mary, a time of new growth and a return to life fitting for the New Eve. Blessed John Henry Newman spoke of how nature itself bears witness to the joy we find in Our Lady:
Why is May chosen as the month in which we exercise a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin? The first reason is because it is the time when the earth bursts forth into its fresh foliage and its green grass after the stern frost and snow of winter, and the raw atmosphere and the wild wind and rain of the early spring. It is because the blossoms are upon the trees and the flowers are in the gardens. It is because the days have got long, and the sun rises early and sets late. For such gladness and joyousness of external Nature is a fit attendant on our devotion to her who is the Mystical Rose and the House of Gold.
Meditations and Devotions, Part I
One traditional way of expressing Mary’s beauty in relation to spring can be found in the Flemish tradition of garland painting. Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625) produced the first image of Our Lady framed in garlands. His garland contained an opening for a set-in image painted on copper. Building upon that idea, he also collaborated with Rubens (left) on another version containing the image of Our Lady within the painting itself (with Rubens painting the figures). The garland creates a frame within the frame, while the image of Our Lady itself is portrayed as a free standing painting set within a landscape. The painting combines a still life, landscape, and figure painting. Subsequent garland paintings served to frame portraits and even mirrors, but eventually birthed a new genre used in many creative ways.
Daniel Seghers (1590-1661), a Jesuit priest and student of Brueghel, offers a good sense of this variety, as he produced dozens of garland paintings (and exclusively produced paintings containing flowers). Many of them feature Our Lady, as in the three I present below. Unlike his garland paintings used to frame other objects, we see how Seghers incorporated images directly within them, while also creatively engaging distinct media by imitating sculpture and relief.
When the garlands serve as a frame for a separate image, you can perceive the distinct oval shape line that delineates it from the painting in the background (which is not the case in the three above). The first of the three above presents a traditional figure painting of Mary, as she appears to offer her Son to the viewer through the garland. We are looking at her through the garland as if it were a window. The second also gives us a sense of depth through the painted sculpture and the architecture surrounding it. You do not get the sense of peaking into a living scene, but rather of approaching a shrine adorned with flowers. The final painting adds some sense of drama with its presentation of the Holy Family, with Joseph reading and Jesus taking food from an attending angel. The flowers frame the painted relief, adding needed color to the scene, while accenting the purity and joy of the Holy Family.
As we enter the last week of May, we can create a similar scene in our house. To honor Our Lady before her month ends, buy some flowers to place before her image in your house! The flowers will accent your prayer, particular the rosary, itself a garland offered to Our Lady to honor her virtues, purity, and motherhood.
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