This art work was created in 1893-1894, and it is titled Madonna of the Lilies. It is a magnificent piece of Italian Symbolism. The picture shows a highly spiritual vision of Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus Christ in her hands. Instead of putting them into an ordinary architectural setting, Gaetano Previati places the figures of the saints in a luxuriant jungle of lilies which have traditionally been associated with purity and innocence.This composition is built upon intentional geometric tensions that draw attention to the spiritual quality of the scene. Previati has given the elongated lilies tall, bended stalks, which create a solid wall of flora around the characters. However, Mary is depicted in flowing white, and her clothing has been created with the use of thin brushstrokes in a horizontal manner while lilies are painted with broad, vertical strokes. It should be noted that this will provide a visual base for the arrangement of the mother and child against the increasingly growing pattern of the floral background field.Executionally, the artwork is a prime manifestation of the Divisionist technique. Previati refrained from mixing colors and pigments directly on the canvas, preferring instead to superimpose separate filaments and bright strands of pure color on top of each other. This method results from the influence of French Symbolism and Pre-Raphaelism and makes the light refract over the surface of the canvas. The technique can be observed in the flow of colors around the head of the Virgin, where an interplay of golden strands and bright lights create a shining halo.
Gaetano Previati’s Madonna of the Lilies superbly employs divisionist techniques of using thin strands of pure color to create an almost ethereal glow around the Virgin and child. Highlighting the figures are groups of tall, bent lilies rather than the traditional architectural elements found in many religious paintings. This choice of flowers over structures helps focus on the themes of chastity and the holiness of the Virgin as well as reinforce the harmony between the divine and the earthly. The use of the horizontal movement of the Virgin’s robes and the vertical arrangement of the flowers also creates a pleasing contrast that draws attention to the figures.
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By: Jana mohamed ismail abdullah
My interpretation is that Gaetano Previati’s Madonna of the Lilies represents the sacredness of motherhood, purity, and divine protection, but also the idea that spiritual experience exists beyond the ordinary physical world.
The most striking aspect of the work is the way Previati removes Mary and the infant Christ from a conventional biblical setting and places them within what feels almost like an otherworldly garden. The lilies do not merely function as decoration. Traditionally associated with purity, innocence, and the Virgin Mary, they seem to surround the mother and child like a protective spiritual environment. The dense vegetation therefore becomes almost symbolic of the divine world itself.
The contrast between Mary’s horizontal, flowing form and the vertical movement of the lilies is particularly meaningful. The lilies rise around her, creating an almost enclosed sanctuary, while Mary and Christ provide a sense of calmness and stability within it. To me, this creates a visual opposition between the earthly and the divine: the flowers grow upward and seem to reach toward heaven, while Mary holds Christ close to her. She becomes the point where the human and divine meet.
