When Herod was dead, Joseph, instructed by an angel, brought Mary and
Jesus into the land of Israel, and made them a home in Nazareth. The
mother with her divine child in this Nazareth home has ever been the
favorite subject with painters. "Madonna" pictures have been
multiplied into the thousands. The most famous are those which were
painted by Raphael,--the Sistine Madonna, Madonna of the Chair,
Madonna da Tempi, Madonna of the Goldfinch, etc.,--reproductions of
which are familiar to everybody. Among other famous painters of the
Madonna is _Murillo,_ who, in _Plate 32,_ represents the mother and
child as the neighbors might have seen them in their humble home. The
child is of course beautiful. (Luke 2:40.) In _Plate 33,_ the artist
has emphasized the last phrase of Luke 2:40, "The grace of God was
upon him." The Father in heaven is visibly present, and the grace
descends upon the child in the form of a dove, as suggested by Luke
3:22. The action of all the accessory figures, the arrangement of the
light, everything in the picture, is calculated to focus the
attention upon the face of the child Christ.
[Illustration: Madonna and Child.]
Plate 32. _Madonna and Child._ Murillo. 1618-1682.
[Illustration: Holy Family.]
Plate 33. Louvre. _Holy Family._ Murillo. 1618-1682.
_Hofmann, Plate 31,_ tells of the quiet days at Nazareth, when Joseph
worked at his trade, and Mary sat near spinning and watching the
wondrous lad who in his child-way could help Joseph by fetching a
needed tool. It was a peaceful, happy life, like that of the chickens
and the doves. The memories of those days furnished Jesus with the
wonderful figure of speech recorded in Matt. 23:37, 38. Hofmann, like
other artists, is fond of symbolism, hence the square and the
measuring stick are upon the shoulder of the child (Is. 9:6) who was
to lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet (Is.
28:17); and the tools take the form of the cross. Jesus was subject
unto his parents (Luke 2:51), and, in a sense, took up his cross
daily, as all his disciples must ever do (Matt. 16:24). Such service
is healthful and profitable (Luke 2:52).
[Illustration: Infancy of Christ.]
Plate 31. _Infancy of Christ._ H. Hofmann. 1824-