Detail of 'The Virgin with Six Saints' by Gregorio Lazzarini (1655-1730) and Giambattista Tiepolo (1692-1770)
Tiepolo’s small painting, 'The Virgin with Six Saints' displays many of the qualities which made him a sought after court artist from Würzburg in Southern Germany to Madrid. His paintings and frescoes radiate an energy and inventiveness which transformed familiar subjects with fresh insights. Here the subject, the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, appears before the viewer in an appealing intimate drama. Mary hovers a little above a group of earth-bound Saints, as an athletic angel holds her aloft on billowing clouds. Her elevated position and the spiralling movement of her draperies establish the Virgin’s heavenly credentials: heaven is her home. Yet her appearance amongst the Saints reminds us of her role as mediator and Mother of all. Tiepolo portrays her gazing down with arms outstretched towards the earth to underline the immediacy of her love for humanity. The Saints situated across the centre of the picture create a horizontal bridge between heaven and earth. From the left Saints Louis King of France, Peter Alacantra, and Teresa of Avila stand while Joseph lounges on a cloud. The lower part of the picture completes the detail reproduced here with the inclusion of two further Saints, Francis of Assisi and Filippo Neri. Banks of clouds effortlessly ascend from earth moving upwards until they dissolve against the dazzling radiance of the heavens. Although the cloud-like God does not offer himself as a goal to be reached for, neither is he remote and beyond our sight. Our God born of a woman envelops us in all our human contradictions.
2014 Art Guide Resource - Download the 2014 Art Guide booklet (pdf)
The 2014 Art Guide explanations have been compiled by Claire Renkin, well-known art historian and lecturer at Yarra Theological Union and has been recorded by Dr. Rachael Kohn, author and public speaker, and most well known for her ABC Radio National program, 'The Spirit of Things'.
The Columban Calendar is well known for its traditional religious paintings and liturgical information. The first Calendar was produced in 1923, the year Vegemite hit Victorian tastebuds. The iconic calendar has become a feature in homes to generations of Australians and New Zealanders and is a major fundraiser for St Columbans Mission Society.
Watch more of the 2014 Columban Calendar Art Guide
- January - Detail of Virgin and Child by Fra Angelico (1387-1455)
- February - Detail of Raising of the Son of Theophilus and Saint Peter on His Throne by Masaccio (1401-1428)
- March - Detail of Eliezer and Rebecca at the Well by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)
- April - Descent from the Cross detail of Deposition of Christ by Rogier van der Weyden (c.1399-1464)
- May - Detail of 'The Visitation' by Jacopo da Pontormo (1494-1557)
- June - Detail of 'Saints Peter and Paul' by El Greco [Domenico Theotokopulos] (1541-1614)
- July - Detail of 'The Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate' by Fra Filippo Lippi (c.1406-1469)
- Watch/Listen to the complete Columban Calendar - Art Guide
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