TLDR: H. O. Tanner portrays a tender moment with Jesus and his mother.
You, dear reader, perhaps recall this amazing artist H.O. Tanner from earlier blog posts such as Easter week. I never tire of looking at the frothy brush strokes and his uncanny use of light. I am introducing you to yet another painting by this wonderful artist. If you ever get the chance to see it in person, its home is at the Dallas Museum of Art. Mr. Tanner actually did two renditions of this. The other one is in Iowa. There are so many things I love about this painting. The highlights on Jesus’ face as he reads the Hebrew Scripture with his mother. The Word reading the word. The Light of the World experiencing light with his mom. Have you ever wondered if Mary taught Jesus how to read? Did they sound out letters together when he was forming sounds into words then words into sentences? So much to think about! Mary had a profound impact on her son. We learn much about her from the beginning of Luke’s gospel.
I subscribe to a blog, Art and Theology by Victoria Emily Jones. She too loves the art of H. O. Tanner. I hope you will also explore his work. She writes this,
“I love Henry Ossawa Tanner’s tender visualization of one such moment of maternal teaching. In Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures, Mary sits on a stone bench with an unfurled scroll, her other arm around her boy’s waist. Jesus nuzzles close and points to a particular verse, maybe asking, “What’s this mean, Mama?” or requesting, as children so often do, “Read it again!”
An earthen jar sits to the left, suggesting a domestic space. It alludes to Jesus’s first recorded miracle, where his mother too plays a part: turning water into wine at a Cana wedding. It also calls to mind the future episode of Jesus in the house of Martha and Mary, in which he praises Mary of Bethany for not being anxious, like her sister, over household chores, but rather choosing “the good portion”: listening to the Word.
Tanner used his wife, Jessie, and their son, Jesse, as models for the painting. It’s unlikely that the Holy Family would have had home access to any of the biblical scrolls [2]—though maybe they made the investment for one or more (or were gifted them); who knows? In any case, collections were maintained at the local synagogue and could be read there.”
She then closes by stating,
“What a ministry Mary had—to raise the Son of God! There was no precedent she could look to for guidance, so she just threw herself wholeheartedly at the task, learning as she went. Her religious zeal, devotion, and insight were no doubt formative in Jesus’s life.”
All of us have had mothers. Some of us are mothers and some of us may be mother-figures. Sunday, May 12 is Mother’s Day. This may be a day you hold near and dear. This may be a day that brings pain. In either case, God is near. What do mothers and a one of the most influential 13th-century Christian Neoplatonists in his day have in common?? Well, let me share. I came across this quote from Meister Eckhart. He was a Dominican theologian, a philosopher, and a mystic who lived in the 13th and 14th centuries over in Germany. He once said:
So, what about you? What do you think about Meister Eckhart’s statement: We are all meant to be mothers of God? It does give some room for thought. As you’re thinking remember the ones who have mothered you in your life. If you can, pick up the phone and say thank you. If that’s something you can’t do, then perhaps you could say a prayer and be thankful how God mothers you for the bounty that only God provides.
Rev. Leesa+
https://artandtheology.org/2017/05/11/mother-mary-teaches-her-son-jesus/
