Mary, the Mother of Jesus

The next stage of the work was to produce a study for the head of Mary. Cecelia D., then a first-year student at the University of Wisconsin River Falls, modeled for this work.

Six sittings of two hours each was the total work from life for this drawing. In addition, I also worked on the drawing for one to two hours each session after Cece left; and it took a few hours to draw the drapery of the veil and the halo. As in The Infant Jesus the halo is worked with high keyed pastels of varying warm and cool tints. The paper of course is toned. The advantage of toned paper is that the tone of the paper acts as a kind of general half tone (or half-light, depending on the darkness of the tone of the paper) which does not need to be applied and modeled but which is modeled around, so to speak. The shadow tones are applied with charcoal as are a few of the darker modeled tones in the light areas, and the lights are applied sparingly using chalk or white pastel. When the work period is done, you set everything down and walk away – no brushes to clean!

Mary, the Mother of Jesus
14 x 12 1/2 charcoal and chalk on paper
private collection
Copyright Peter Bougie 2017

There are many reasons to respect and venerate Mary. All the obvious attributes of motherhood apply to her, as well as the singular virtue of her fiat, saying yes to God at the moment of the Annunciation. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception applies to her as well; this refers to her conception, not the conception of Jesus, and is another singular condition and a gift of God. She is free of original sin from the moment of her conception, but retains her own free will the same as any other person. Therefore, her freely given consent at the Annunciation is the counter to the disobedience of Eve – her “no”, her declining to obey in the garden. It is humanity’s second chance.

One of the last things Jesus did while he was dying on the cross was to entrust Mary to the care of the apostle John, and to give John to Mary as her adopted son. “When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.”

Remember, this was one of the last things Jesus did before he died. Do you suppose it was a sentimental moment? Jesus was dying a horrific death, and had been tortured for hours before being crucified. Part of the nature of the torture of the crucifixion was that it slowly asphyxiated its victims. To breath, he would have to push against the nails in his feet to raise his torso up. To talk, he must breathe a little more than if he does not talk. So, to speak was to increase his own suffering. Do you suppose Jesus spoke because he suddenly recalled, as he was dying, that he had neglected to make arrangements for his mother? As if he would have forgotten, and as if John or the others would not have cared for her otherwise. And if he is just making arrangements for the future security of his mother, why does he instruct Mary to “behold thy son” and John to “behold thy mother”? The Catholic teaching is that in this act Jesus is not just giving instructions to John and Mary about how they are to relate to each other, but that he is giving all of humanity to Mary as her adopted children, and asking all of humanity to adopt Mary as their spiritual mother. Jesus was teaching to the last, even from the cross. “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” (John 13:1) He considers us as his own, and so he strives to teach us.

Scripture quotations from Douay Rheims