The 15th-century painting attributed to Sandro Botticelli was retrieved by the Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Unit of Naples.
Every time we drive onto our court I'm confronted -- nay, assaulted -- by the sight of a legion of inflatable bags of plastic on a neighour's lawn, most of them graven images of animated movie characters. My family finds it hilarious that I fulminate about how hideous this looks while I ask how the birth of Christ has come to this.
There is a smattering of nativity scenes on lawns around town but they are a rarity now and we seem to hear every year about the Baby Jesus going AWOL from a creche from in front of a church --apparently nothing is sacred anymore.
'Tis also the season for images of the Madonna and Child, everything from the stylized Renaisance paintings to contemporary representations of Mary/Miryam and the infant Yeshua/Jesus.
Did you hear that a famous Madonna and Child painting was recovered in Italy recently? According to CNN:
A painting by the 15th-century master Sandro Botticelli, recorded as missing since the 1980s, has been found at a home in southern Italy. The depiction of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ was discovered in a home in the town of Gragnano, near Naples, according to the Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Unit of Naples.
The painting by the artist most famous for “The Birth of Venus” and “Primavera” is estimated by Italian authorities to be worth at least €100 million ($109 million). It was commissioned for the Roman Catholic Church in 1470.
This would be just over $146 million in Canadian funds. With my art history background I'm always fascinated by the stories of rediscovered or retrieved works of art, as well as the repatriation of pieces stolen by various empires.
What hit me about this report is that a painting of a displaced peasant mother nurturing her child, born in a stable, is assessed such an astronomical value. I'm glad it has been recovered but this does seem incongruous, to the extreme. I'm saddened that Mary and Jesus have gone missing from a society where the "priceless" birth was once cause for celebration, not the glitz and the consumerism.
3 comments:
Re: Inflatables.....It's pretty ludicrous (but perhpas meaningful) how they deflate into sad heaps. Manufactured gaiety in place of what you point out as the true meaning of Christmas. KB
The proliferation of Disney (and other) Christmas movies and stories over the years has certainly taken away from the Story of Christ's birth - and Hallmark - well, don't get me started - those movies set one up for such a disappointment re the Christmas season !
I think we need some decorations in the dark winter of our northern habitat, but we need Christ , too.
I'm with you, Kathy and Judy, and the other Judy who commented via email. The deflatable bags of fossil fuel by-products are beyond my comprehension, although, as you suggest Kathy, they may be a social commentary. Don't get me started again on the incessant tinny holiday tunes emanating from the same lawn -- more Jesus, less jukebox.
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