She is the ark of the covenant, The bush of vision, Gideon's fleece, That is moistened with the dew of the air, The sum of the old law, Solomon's temple, And the sublime throne Above the other thrones.
😌 ❤️ 🏔️ 🌐 The Uncut Mountain(Daniel), the Eastern Gate [Ezekiel], the Burning Bush Unconsummed, the Root of Jesse, Aaron's Rod that budded, behold Zion.
.....grace 🔥and peace ⛲to you sister! This post is very helpful for all who love and venerate our Lady and Queen. 🎶 ⛪ ☦️ ⏳More Honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more Glorious than the Seraphim, thou who without corruption Bearest God the Word and are Truly Theotokos, thee do we magnify. Onward to Bethlehem! ✨ 🌴 🐪 👑
Superb quote from St Ephrem, the Harp of the Holy Spirit, patron of musicians: “The bush was burning, but it was not consumed, because it was a type of the holy Virgin Mary, who was filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, but remained a virgin.”—Saint Ephraim (d. 373)
Thank you Peter! I was not either until I went to a lecture at the McNay art museum in San Antonio during my first year teaching in 2017. They have panels of Moses and Gideon which they suspect surrounded an image of Mary in the Burning Bush. (The central panel is now lost.) There are many lectures I have forgotten entirely, but that one has stuck with me.
Agree Amelia relative to Mary's litany of titles. The New Ark of the Covenant is very difficult for Protestants to dispute, it is just too biblical and visually apparent.
Amelia, thank you for drawing attention to this painting which has been a favorite of mine for a long time. You have beautifully drawn out the twin paradoxes of a bush on fire that is not consumed and a virgin who bears a Child yet remains a virgin. There is one more feature – a visual one that makes it a triple paradox.
As your eye moves through the image into a perspectival description of an immense landscape you pass the figures of Moses and the Angel, past a flock of sheep, on to another flock of sheep, down a path that shrinks in the conventional space-making of a landscape until you come to the mountain. At that point the world changes and begins to grow just as you describe – the “bush” is a stand of trees and within the canopy Mary sits with Jesus. But they are just as large as the figures in the foreground. The paradox – that which is impossible, but true, is that you have traveled deep into the painting with all the features conforming to the conventions of perspective but suddenly it all transforms and you find yourself back at the beginning with the three figures of equal size somehow sharing the foreground. This imaginative solution really identifies Nicholas Froment as an inventive composer who sits so well between the styles of van der Weyden of the Northern Renaissance and Bellini of the Venetian Renaissance. What a time it must have been to be an artist.
The themes of mercy, wonder and praise woven through🪢 the icons, hymns, and artistic expression are an excellent ponder along our journey✨🌴🐪👑 towards Bethlehem. MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS SAVE US!
Phenomenal work on this, happy feast day!
Thank you! Happy feast!
😌 ❤️ 🏔️ 🌐 The Uncut Mountain(Daniel), the Eastern Gate [Ezekiel], the Burning Bush Unconsummed, the Root of Jesse, Aaron's Rod that budded, behold Zion.
.....grace 🔥and peace ⛲to you sister! This post is very helpful for all who love and venerate our Lady and Queen. 🎶 ⛪ ☦️ ⏳More Honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more Glorious than the Seraphim, thou who without corruption Bearest God the Word and are Truly Theotokos, thee do we magnify. Onward to Bethlehem! ✨ 🌴 🐪 👑
Superb quote from St Ephrem, the Harp of the Holy Spirit, patron of musicians: “The bush was burning, but it was not consumed, because it was a type of the holy Virgin Mary, who was filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, but remained a virgin.”—Saint Ephraim (d. 373)
Well done, Amelia....
Thank you very much Mark!
I'm just a truth-teller, that's all.... ;)
Thank you--very nice, as always. I was not familiar with the burning bush comparison before.
Thank you Peter! I was not either until I went to a lecture at the McNay art museum in San Antonio during my first year teaching in 2017. They have panels of Moses and Gideon which they suspect surrounded an image of Mary in the Burning Bush. (The central panel is now lost.) There are many lectures I have forgotten entirely, but that one has stuck with me.
What a great article. I am deeply devoted to Mary and will have to read it several times more.
Thank you very much! Marian typology is very rich.
Me too......🤓❤️🔥
Agree Amelia relative to Mary's litany of titles. The New Ark of the Covenant is very difficult for Protestants to dispute, it is just too biblical and visually apparent.
Amelia, thank you for drawing attention to this painting which has been a favorite of mine for a long time. You have beautifully drawn out the twin paradoxes of a bush on fire that is not consumed and a virgin who bears a Child yet remains a virgin. There is one more feature – a visual one that makes it a triple paradox.
As your eye moves through the image into a perspectival description of an immense landscape you pass the figures of Moses and the Angel, past a flock of sheep, on to another flock of sheep, down a path that shrinks in the conventional space-making of a landscape until you come to the mountain. At that point the world changes and begins to grow just as you describe – the “bush” is a stand of trees and within the canopy Mary sits with Jesus. But they are just as large as the figures in the foreground. The paradox – that which is impossible, but true, is that you have traveled deep into the painting with all the features conforming to the conventions of perspective but suddenly it all transforms and you find yourself back at the beginning with the three figures of equal size somehow sharing the foreground. This imaginative solution really identifies Nicholas Froment as an inventive composer who sits so well between the styles of van der Weyden of the Northern Renaissance and Bellini of the Venetian Renaissance. What a time it must have been to be an artist.
Wow! Thank you for pointing out this amazing detail. It really is an incredible painting.
Thank you for such a comprehensive post in honour of Our Blessed Lady. May she pray for you and for us all.
Thank you very much Fr Thomas. Advent is such a rich Marian season.
Excellent research sister. 🔬⏳🌙📚🎶🔔✍🏼☦️⛪
The themes of mercy, wonder and praise woven through🪢 the icons, hymns, and artistic expression are an excellent ponder along our journey✨🌴🐪👑 towards Bethlehem. MOST HOLY THEOTOKOS SAVE US!
Thank you very much! Yes, Advent hymns are some of the best!
everything you write is golden
Thankfully, I have the Church Fathers and the poets doing the heavy lifting with this one!
but weaving it all together like this is really incredible
I concur
Lol! Thank you Derek!