The Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, holds a central place in Christian belief and devotion and is venerated as the Theotokos (“God-bearer”), a title affirmed in early Christian theology to express the unity of Christ’s divine and human natures. A Jewish woman of Nazareth, she is a principal figure in the infancy narratives of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke and appears at significant moments throughout Jesus’s ministry.

Mary is present at the Crucifixion and is included among the disciples after the Resurrection, marking her continuing role within the early Christian community. From early Christian tradition onward, devotion to Mary has emphasised her perpetual virginity, her obedience and faith at the Annunciation, and her theological identification as the new Eve, whose assent reverses the disobedience of the first. These beliefs shaped both doctrine and the extraordinarily rich Marian imagery of Christian art.

Virgin Mary in Art

The Virgin Mary occupies a central place in Christian art from Late Antiquity onward and is represented through a wide range of narrative, devotional, and theological images. Early representations emphasise her role as Theotokos, affirming the mystery of the Incarnation, while later medieval and Renaissance art developed a rich visual language expressing her humility, maternity, sorrow, and exaltation. Marian imagery is therefore best approached not as a single subject, but as a network of interrelated iconographic themes.

Key Marian themes in Christian art include:

• Annunciation – the moment of Mary’s assent to the Incarnation

• Visitation – Mary’s encounter with Elizabeth

• Nativity – the birth of Christ and Mary’s maternal role

• Madonna and Child – devotional images emphasising intimacy, tenderness, and intercession

• Pietà and Lamentation – Mary’s grief at the death of Christ

• Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin – her exaltation and heavenly queenship

These themes form the principal gateways through which Marian imagery developed across painting, sculpture, stained glass, and manuscript illumination, and they provide structured points of entry for exploring the visual culture of Christian devotion.