“Mother and Child” (1901) Pablo Picasso

On this morning of the Feast of Saint Mary the Virgin I offer up a painting by Pablo Picasso entitled “Mother and Child” , painted in 1901, as a way of celebrating and lifting up the special nature of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, the “Theotokos,” .  As a naïve young lad I always found Picasso a bit “trite” and wondered what all the fuss was about.  However, as I have aged and been guided by some very knowledgeable friends, and one of my priests and artist son-in law in particular,  I have come to see the deep symbolism in his work as possessing great religious connotation.  This painting comes from what is referred to as Picasso’s “blue period”.  During this period the artist rendered everything in blue. In a way this painting is reminiscent of the baroque period artists who used blue…