LOOK: Pregnant Madonna, 9th century, fresco, crypt of Santa Prassede, Rome
The Madonna del Parto (Our Lady of Parturition) is an iconic depiction of the Virgin Mary as pregnant, usually pointing to or cradling her belly, where God is being made flesh. The ninth-century fresco in the crypt of Santa Prassede in Rome is the earliest known depiction of a visibly pregnant Mary. I believe she is flanked by saints Praxedes (Italian Prassede) and Pudentiana (Italian Pudenziana), sisters and martyrs, since the painting is from a chamber that contains their relics. In the most famous Madonna del Parto image, however—by Piero della Francesca, ca. 1457—Mary is attended by two angels.
LISTEN: “In the Virgin’s Womb” by Kaitlyn Ferry | Performed by Sister Sinjin (Kaitlyn Ferry, Elizabeth Duffy, and Elise Erikson Barrett), on Incarnation (2016, re-released 2019)
In the Virgin’s womb He lay;
God made flesh, the mortal babe.
In her body she has held
That which heav’n cannot contain.In the Virgin’s womb He lay;
Born to die, His flesh a grave.
In her arms she has held
He whom death could not hold down.
For each day of the first week of Advent I am publishing one art-and-song pairing as an invitation for seasonal reflection.
Art & Theology 
Beautiful! Thank you for this!!!
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Thank you for this beautiful image.
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Thank you so much, yet again — these are wonderful. I am a little confused by the music pairings… are they off by a day? Or am I off by a day (or more?—highly likely!)? Thanks for checking…
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Glad you’re enjoying them! Because I am in the Eastern Time Zone (GMT -5) and posted the last few in the afternoon, depending on where you live, you may be getting them the next day. (I plan to post the rest in the mornings.) Perhaps what’s confusing is that a lot of commercially marketed “Advent calendars” start on December 1, but Advent actually starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas. That date rotates every year, and this year Advent began on November 29.
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Quick answer, thanks! For some reason my ‘Listens’ are one day removed from my ‘Looks’, so Collante is with Bard & Ceilidh, Sahi with Marian Grace, and the fresco with Taizé, even though the ‘Listen’ blurbs themselves are correctly paired. Who knows? But thank you for responding, and just many thanks in general for your thoughtfulness! Advent blessings! Libbie from ABQ, NM
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Ahhh, further clue: when I look at the blog site in general, things are not matched up. When I click on an individual day, they are correct! Weird. Just a further FYI in case anyone else is confused…
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Gorgeous image. Thanks for sharing.
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[…] For another Advent devotion featuring Sister Sinjin and an even older Italian fresco, see here. […]
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