donnas, being, as we have
seen, not without illustrious predecessors among the old masters. Of
these we have Guay's Mater Amabilis, where the mother leans from her
throne to support her child, playing on the step below with his
cousin, St. John; and Mary L. Macomber's picture, where the enthroned
Madonna folds her babe in her protecting arms, as if to shield him
from impending evil.

[Illustration: BODENHAUSEN.--MADONNA AND CHILD.]

By Bodenhausen we have the extremely popular Mater Amabilis in Gloria,
where a girlish young mother, her long hair streaming about her,
stands in upper air, poised above the great ball of the earth, holding
her sweet babe to her heart.

Pictures like these constantly reiterate the story of a mother's
love--an old, old story, which begins again with every new birth.

CHAPTER VII.

THE MADONNA IN ADORATION.

(THE MADRE PIA.)

The first tender joys of a mother's love are strangely mingled with
awe. Her babe is a precious gift of God, which she receives into
trembling hands. A new sense of responsibility presses upon her with
almost overwhelming force. Hers is the highest honor given unto woman;
she accepts it with solemn joy, deeming herself all too unworthy.

This spirit of humility has been idealized in art, in the form of
Madonna known as the Madre Pia. It represents the Virgin Mary adoring
her son. Sometimes she kneels before him, sometimes she sits with
clasped hands, holding him in her lap. Whatever the variation in
attitude, the thought is the same: it is an expression of that higher,
finer aspect of motherhood which regards infancy as an object not only
of love, but of reverent humility. It is a recognition of the great
mystery of life which invests even the helpless babe with a dignity
commanding respect.

A picture with so serious an intention can never be widely understood.
The meaning is too subtile for the casual observer. An outgrowth of
mediaeval pietism, it was superseded by more popular subjects, and has
never since been revived. The subject had its origin as an idealized
nativity, set in pastoral surroundings which suggest the Bethlehem
manger. Theologically it represented the Virgin as the first
worshipper of her divine Son. But though the sacred mystery of Mary's
experience sets her forever apart as "blessed among women," she is the
type of true motherhood in all generations.

The Madonna in Adoration is, properly speaking, a fifteenth century
subject.