Maria nova Eva

Its Doctrinal Foundation and its Reflection in Iconography

Abstract

This article aims to shed light on some textual and iconographic manifestations of the radical opposition between Eve and the Virgin Mary that Christian doctrinal tradition has emphasized since the early centuries of our era. To that end, we will first present, in two sections, its textual expressions: in the first, we will examine some testimonies in which some Fathers and theologians of the Eastern and Western Churches expressed this antithesis; in the second, we will present many fragments of medieval Latin liturgical hymns that poetically illustrate this contrast. In the third section, we will analyze seven paintings and sculptures that symbolically represent this Eve/Mary antithesis. In the conclusions, we will synthesize the essential doctrinal meanings that the medieval Fathers, theologians, and hymnographers revealed through their various argumentative and rhetorical expressions.