Why does mary always wear blue

In iconography, blue is the color of heaven and represents the divine. Mary is a human the color red in icons represents human life who became clothed in the divinity of God by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. By the medieval period in the West starting in the 10th century , there was a renewed interest in influences from Byzantine art.

At the same time, red also became associated with Mary in art. For example, almost all of the artwork of Mary by Raphael one of the most notable artists in the 16th century, depicts her clothed in red, with a blue mantle. And the 15th century master, Leonardo da Vinci, also often painted Mary in a red robe and blue mantle. When Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France, in , the visionary said the Blessed Mother was wearing white with a blue sash.

And St. Juan Diego said that Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared with a mantle blue-green in color. Johann Roten, S. Blue has stayed in vogue, but red has also become a prominent color for Mary as represented by artists since the tenth century.

Blue calls to mind the color of the skies which is not only limited to light blue , and red is the color of kings, Roten says. As to the red mantle worn by Our Lady -- this isn't so rare either. Artists of the day cherished the deep hue, and as it was the most expensive pigment of its time, it was often used in an adoring fashion.

It would make sense to clad the Mother of Jesus in the most adoring pigment possible. You are commenting using your WordPress.

You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. These facets of the colour soon featured heavily in the depictions of figures in art, for only the most pure and godly figures.

Blue became associated with the Virgin Mary in the early 5th Century, and she was painted using the Marian Blue. This became her official colour thanks to the prevalence of religious sects like the cult of the Virgin and Mariology. She was also painted sporting both red with blue.

According to Dr R Jared Staudt, blue is the colour of the Israeli people, as mentioned in the book of Numbers in the bible. This goes further with the suggestion that the Virgin Mary was a second Ark of the Covenant, understood to contain the Divine Presence of God within her.

In the Byzantine and Orthodox depictions of Jesus and Mary, the colours are painted together as either outer or inner wear.