Our Lady of Bethlehem
Encyclopedia
Our Lady of Bethlehem is a Flemish
-style oil painting
from Puerto Rico
. Specialists in 15th-century art attribute the painting to the school of the Brussels
painter Rogier van der Weyden, or an anonymous disciple of the school.
According to tradition, during the English invasions of 1598 and Dutch invasions of 1625, the painting was hidden and later found. In 1714 it was hung in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Cathedral of San Juan Bautista
).
During the siege of Abercromby (1797)
, the bishop gave orders to Zengotita that daily public prayer would be held in parishes of the city. The participants, mainly women, sang songs and litanies
and carried candles or torches in their hands. The painting of Our Lady of Bethlehem was carried through the city to ask God for help. Legend has it that the invading army saw men with torches. Frightened by such an imposing sight, they decided to withdraw and not attack the city. Thus, the protection of the city was attributed to Our Lady of Bethlehem, whom the town considered the "protectora de la ciudad," or "Guardian of the City." Today in the Caleta de San Juan, next to the ancient wall and facing the bay of San Juan, there is an imposing sculpture called "La Rogativa" or "The Public Petition," which commemorates this chapter in the history of Puerto Rico.
Out of his personal devotion and devotion to the people of San Juan, the Puerto Rican painter José Campeche
reproduced the painting many times. Some of the reproductions of the original Our Lady of Bethlehem are in Galería Nacional
del Viejo San Juan and the Museo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico
in Río Piedras. Juan Alejo de Arizmendi
was the first Puerto Rican bishop to call for devotion to the painting. In 1806 he granted forty days of indulgence
to those who say a Hail Mary
in front of image, praying to God for the purposes of the Church. The original Our Lady of Bethlehem later went to the San José Church
of Old San Juan (the old St. Thomas Church of the Dominicans). It remained there until it disappeared in 1972.
The tradition of milk also dates back to the first centuries of Christianity
. Those converting to Christianity were given a mixture of milk and honey to drink, which in the early churches of Egypt
, Rome
, and North Africa
was solemnly blessed at the Easter
and Pentecost
al vigils. Milk with honey symbolized the union of the two natures in Christ
. The custom of giving milk with honey to the newly baptized
did not last long, but this tradition is visible in artistic representations.
of Priscilla
, Rome, a pictorial representation of the Virgin Mary made in the 2nd century stands out. It is likely that this is a virgin who can breastfeed. In the catacombs there are other symbols referring to milk.
In the church of the Chilandari Monastery in Mount Athos
, Greece
, a "Virgin of Milk" was immortalized in a painting, in the Byzantine
style of the 11th and 12th centuries, called the Panagia Galaktotrophusa.
In one of the images of the Virgin Mary (which is similar to the "Virgin of Milk" painting), in the town of Saydnaya near Damascus
, there was an inscription in Latin from the 13th century: Hoc oleum ex ubere Genitris Dei Virginia Mariae emanavit in loco, qui Sardinia vocatur, ubi genitilitas est, ex imagine lignea, which means "This oil flowed from the breast of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, sculpted from wood, which happened in the place of the Gentiles called Sardinia
. This image was moved from Constantinople
to Saydnaya, probably in the 11th century. Even after the 14th century, they distributed oil or milk. This representation had much influence. Templars distributed the oil or milk among the pilgrims and in many countries. It is very likely that this famous shrine of Saydnaya, which was a pilgrimage place for Christians of the East and West, is the source (or one of the major sources) of the artistic theme.
during the Middle Ages
, the early Flemish painters produced numerous images of Mary. At the end of the 15th and 16th centuries, and up until the Council of Trent
(1545–1563), the representations of the "Virgin of Milk" were popular in the Netherlands
.
Rogier van der Weyden, the presumed creator of Our Lady of Bethlehem, was a Flemish painter of fame and prestige in the 15th century. In 1435 he left his home town of Tournai
to settle in Brussels, where he was named the premier painter of the city. None of the paintings attributed to him are signed.
The interest in his art was not limited to the region of Brussels. He received orders from distant regions such as Italy
, Savoy
, cities along the Rhine, and Spain
.
It is possible that van der Weyden's painting Our Lady of Bethlehem was taken to one of the convents of the Dominicans in Spain, and then later he took it with him on his trip to the Dominican friars who founded the first convent in Old San Juan.
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
-style oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
from Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. Specialists in 15th-century art attribute the painting to the school of the Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
painter Rogier van der Weyden, or an anonymous disciple of the school.
Details
The image is painted on a wooden canvas. The woman in the painting, the Virgin Mary, is medium sized and has a tan and venerable face, lose hair, rays around the head, and content eyes gazing upon the child in swaddling clothes. She has one of her breasts uncovered, with small drops of milk falling towards the child's lips. The child reclines in his mother's arms, reciprocating the gaze of the mother. The Virgin Mary is wearing a blue blouse (not black) and a dark red or crimson mantle. Behind her, there is a dark grove of trees that looks like a mountain; this landscape represents her escape to Egypt. The painting arrived at a Dominican convent between 1511 and 1522. It measures 37.2 cm by 65 cm.According to tradition, during the English invasions of 1598 and Dutch invasions of 1625, the painting was hidden and later found. In 1714 it was hung in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (Cathedral of San Juan Bautista
Cathedral of San Juan Bautista
The Cathedral of San Juan Bautista is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.The cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in San Juan, and is the second oldest cathedral in the Americas. The Catedral de Santa María la Menor in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is the oldest...
).
During the siege of Abercromby (1797)
Battle of San Juan (1797)
The Battle of San Juan was a 1797 British attack on the Spanish colonial port city of San Juan in Puerto Rico. The attack was carried out facing the historic town of Miramar....
, the bishop gave orders to Zengotita that daily public prayer would be held in parishes of the city. The participants, mainly women, sang songs and litanies
Litany
A litany, in Christian worship and some forms of Jewish worship, is a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions...
and carried candles or torches in their hands. The painting of Our Lady of Bethlehem was carried through the city to ask God for help. Legend has it that the invading army saw men with torches. Frightened by such an imposing sight, they decided to withdraw and not attack the city. Thus, the protection of the city was attributed to Our Lady of Bethlehem, whom the town considered the "protectora de la ciudad," or "Guardian of the City." Today in the Caleta de San Juan, next to the ancient wall and facing the bay of San Juan, there is an imposing sculpture called "La Rogativa" or "The Public Petition," which commemorates this chapter in the history of Puerto Rico.
Out of his personal devotion and devotion to the people of San Juan, the Puerto Rican painter José Campeche
José Campeche
José Campeche , born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is the first known Puerto Rican visual artist and considered by many as one of the best rococo artists in the Americas.-Early years:...
reproduced the painting many times. Some of the reproductions of the original Our Lady of Bethlehem are in Galería Nacional
Galería Nacional
Galería Nacional located in Old San Juan within the historic colonial section of the capital of Puerto Rico, houses the largest collection of Puerto Rican paintings from the eighteenth century to the 1960s. The museum is located in the restored Saint Aquinas monastery of the Dominican Order...
del Viejo San Juan and the Museo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
in Río Piedras. Juan Alejo de Arizmendi
Juan Alejo de Arizmendi
Bishop Juan Alejo de Arizmendi was a patriot and the first Puerto Rican to be consecrated Bishop.-Early years:...
was the first Puerto Rican bishop to call for devotion to the painting. In 1806 he granted forty days of indulgence
Indulgence
In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution...
to those who say a Hail Mary
Hail Mary
The Angelic Salutation, Hail Mary, or Ave Maria is a traditional biblical Catholic prayer asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Hail Mary is used within the Catholic Church, and it forms the basis of the Rosary...
in front of image, praying to God for the purposes of the Church. The original Our Lady of Bethlehem later went to the San José Church
San José Church
San José Church , located in Old San Juan within the historic colonial section of the capital of Puerto Rico, is one of the first significant works of architecture on the island...
of Old San Juan (the old St. Thomas Church of the Dominicans). It remained there until it disappeared in 1972.
Origin of the tradition
According to the tradition, Mary and her child rested in a cave, called the Milk Grotto (la Gruta de la Leche), near the place where today stands the Church of the Nativity (la Iglesia de la Natividad). There, the Virgin Mary breastfed the child. A drop of milk fell on a stone of the cave, and the stone turned white. During the early centuries, this white rock, diluted in water, took the appearance of milk and was used as a religious relic.The tradition of milk also dates back to the first centuries of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Those converting to Christianity were given a mixture of milk and honey to drink, which in the early churches of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
was solemnly blessed at the Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
and Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
al vigils. Milk with honey symbolized the union of the two natures in Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
. The custom of giving milk with honey to the newly baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
did not last long, but this tradition is visible in artistic representations.
Notable representations
In the catacombsCatacombs
Catacombs, human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place can be described as a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman empire...
of Priscilla
Priscilla
Priscilla is an English female given name adopted from the Roman Priscilla, derived from the Latin priscus . One suggestion is that it is intended to bestow long life on the bearer....
, Rome, a pictorial representation of the Virgin Mary made in the 2nd century stands out. It is likely that this is a virgin who can breastfeed. In the catacombs there are other symbols referring to milk.
In the church of the Chilandari Monastery in Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, a "Virgin of Milk" was immortalized in a painting, in the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
style of the 11th and 12th centuries, called the Panagia Galaktotrophusa.
In one of the images of the Virgin Mary (which is similar to the "Virgin of Milk" painting), in the town of Saydnaya near Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, there was an inscription in Latin from the 13th century: Hoc oleum ex ubere Genitris Dei Virginia Mariae emanavit in loco, qui Sardinia vocatur, ubi genitilitas est, ex imagine lignea, which means "This oil flowed from the breast of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, sculpted from wood, which happened in the place of the Gentiles called Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
. This image was moved from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
to Saydnaya, probably in the 11th century. Even after the 14th century, they distributed oil or milk. This representation had much influence. Templars distributed the oil or milk among the pilgrims and in many countries. It is very likely that this famous shrine of Saydnaya, which was a pilgrimage place for Christians of the East and West, is the source (or one of the major sources) of the artistic theme.
Representations of the Virgin Mary in the Netherlands
Responding to the devotion and worship of the Virgin in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the early Flemish painters produced numerous images of Mary. At the end of the 15th and 16th centuries, and up until the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
(1545–1563), the representations of the "Virgin of Milk" were popular in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Rogier van der Weyden, the presumed creator of Our Lady of Bethlehem, was a Flemish painter of fame and prestige in the 15th century. In 1435 he left his home town of Tournai
Tournai
Tournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
to settle in Brussels, where he was named the premier painter of the city. None of the paintings attributed to him are signed.
The interest in his art was not limited to the region of Brussels. He received orders from distant regions such as Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
, cities along the Rhine, and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
It is possible that van der Weyden's painting Our Lady of Bethlehem was taken to one of the convents of the Dominicans in Spain, and then later he took it with him on his trip to the Dominican friars who founded the first convent in Old San Juan.
External links
- http://www.virgendebelenpr.net/ Puerto Rican website dedicated to the painting Our Lady of Bethlehem and its history (in Spanish).