The Virgin of the Rocks

ART AND IMAGES IN PSYCHIATRY

SECTION EDITOR: JAMES C. HARRIS, MD The Virgin of the Rocks Indeed, the great Leonardo remained like a child for the whole of his life....itissaid that all great men are bound to retain some infantile part. Even as an adult he continued to play, and this is another reason why he often appears uncanny and incomprehensible to his contemporaries. Sigmund Freud1(p77)

N BIBLICAL ACCOUNTS WHEN his stigmata were received in a rocky brought out their radiance. The rocks do Herod,KingofJudea,learnedfrom grotto.3(p74) The contractual disagreement not reflect the detailed understanding of the magi about the birth of Jesus, wassettledwhenLeonardoprovidedanew geology reflected in the original version; King of the Jews, he ordered the and complete version of the painting, the moreover, the children’s skin is not natu- executionI of all newly born male children first being deemed incomplete. ralistic. The full triptych from the inthevillageofBethlehem.MaryandEliza- Milanese church (cover) is hung in Lon- beth, the mothers of Jesus and John the don’s National Gallery. Baptist, fled with their sons into Egypt. In In the popular thriller The Da Vinci The Virgin of the Rocks (cover), Leonardo Code, The Virgin of the Rocks plays a cen- da Vinci (1452-1519) illustrates the first tral role as the hiding place for the key meeting of the infants Jesus and John the that sets the quest in motion. In a trav- Baptist in a protected rocky grotto where, esty to art history, the identities of Je- inthemidstoftheirflight,theyhavepaused sus and John are reversed in the book to rest. The meeting is not recorded in the and Mary’s protective hand gesture is re- Christian Bible but is reported in the apoc- interpreted as a threatening clawhand ryphal book of James. Tenderly Mary pro- that resembles an eagle talon.4(p180) Un- tects both children. Her right arm, placed like The Da Vinci Code text, Sigmund around the infant St John the Baptist, com- Freud accurately portrayed Leonardo’s fortshimasheleansforwardtomakehom- work. Freud deeply admired Leonardo agetotheChristchild;hishandsarejoined and made him the subject of his only together in a gesture of prayer. Mary’s left psychoanalytic biography. He specu- hand hovers protectively over the head of lated about Leonardo’s early relation- her son, Jesus, as he looks toward John and ships and life experiences but made a raises his right hand in a gesture of bene- well-known error in his interpretation diction to bless him. The angel Uriel, who of Leonardo’s earliest childhood by tradition rescued John from the slaugh- memory. Freud’s interpretation was ter of the innocents, draws the viewer’s at- based on a mistranslation of the name tention to St John by pointing directly to of the bird as “vulture,” but the subject him. The pool of water in the foreground of Leonardo’s memory was actually a kite ofthepaintingmayanticipateChrist’slater (small hawk). Freud made a mythologi- baptism by John. Both artist and scientist, Figure. The Virgin, Infant Jesus, John the Baptist cal interpretation. He associated the bird Leonardo accurately portrays the rock for- and an Angel. with the Egyptian mother goddess Mut, mations in the grotto based on his geologi- who has the head of a vulture. Freud’s cal observations north of Milan. The original painting is set in autumn analysis of the bird memory was re- The settlement of a contractual dispute (Figure). Leonardo selected the plants for futed by art historian Meyer Schapiro.5 between Leonardo; his associates, the de their symbolic value. Columbine (Aqui- Freud’s error set in motion a dialogue Predis brothers; and their patron resulted legia vulgaris), the dove (columba) plant, about personal-psychological interpre- in there being 2 Virgin of the Rocks paint- is placed beside the Virgin’s face. It rep- tations versus art-historical interpreta- ings.OnApril25,1483,LeonardodaVinci resents the descent of the Holy Spirit like tions regarding the meanings of works andAmbrogiodePrediscontractedtopaint a dove. Our Lady’s Bedstraw, shown above of art that continues to this day. anancona(analtarpiecewithacurvedtop) to her right, is linked to the manger. Cy- to adorn the chapel of the Confraternity clamen grow at the foot of Christ; their James C. Harris, MD of the Immaculate Conception at the heart-shaped leaves represent love and vir- churchofSanFrancescoGrandeinMilan.2 tue. Stains on the Hypericum (St John’s REFERENCES The theme was to be the Immaculate Con- wort) refer to St John’s martyrdom. ception: the belief that the Christ child was The replacement lacks spontaneity 1. Freud S. Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His conceived without original sin on Mary’s and facial detail. Its “look” immediately Childhood. Tyson A, trans. New York, NY: W. W. part, a widely debated topic in Leonardo’s led scholars to consider it a collabora- Norton & Co; 1964. day. Leonardo was assigned the central tion with another artist. It is bluer in color; 2. Nicholl C. Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind. panel and Ambrogio was assigned the 2 the hand of the angel no longer points to London, UK: Penguin Books; 2004. 3. Zöllner F. Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paint- side panels showing angels, one in green St John. St John’s cross of reeds is added, ings and Drawings. Köln, Germany: Taschen; 2007. playing a violin and one in red playing a as are halos for the central figures. In the 4. Brown D. The Da Vinci Code. New York, NY: An- lute (cover). John the Baptist was impor- first version Leonardo determined that chor Books; 2003. tant to Franciscans because St Francis’ halos were unnecessary. Instead Mary and 5. Schapiro M. Leonardo and Freud: an art-historical givennamewasJohn(alterFranciscus)and the others were painted in a manner that study. J Hist Ideas. 1956;17:147-178.

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