Raphael’s Laughing Madonna (1506) is a rare example of a smiling and relaxed Mary with her baby. It is not a Christmas card, but a card for all seasons.
Most representations of Mother and Child are solemn and very often sad. Solemnity is quite right for a description of the Mother of God but it should not be compulsory. The sadness comes from the painters’ prescience: here is a baby destined for crucifixion as an adult.
This picture is tiny: only 11 by 8 inches It was almost certainly painted for private devotion: easily transportable from place to place as an aid to prayer, wherever the lucky owner might be.
It combines sacredness with the playfulness to be found between any mother and child. And this playfulness is its great strength. Because it reminds us that light-heartedness and fun are integral parts of love, and so to be enjoyed by all. Even though concentration is always appropriate when we pray, our practice of faith is not meant to be dark and gloomy.
Joy can be quiet and restful. It does not have to be rumbustious.
The carol ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’ is on the raucous side, but the ‘tidings of comfort and joy’ in its chorus don’t necessarily imply a riot of jollity, especially for those of us who might prefer the joy of peace.
This goes hand in hand with comforting our distress, feelings and spirit. Nor should physical comfort be neglected. The baby sits on his mother's knee, on top of a comfy-looking cushion.
Often in Old Master paintings, he is lying naked, on prickly-looking straw and on the ground. Although he is being worshipped by his mother and and those around him, I find myself wondering if he is being properly cared for and properly loved.
Raphael’s use of symbolism is minimal. Other than barely visible haloes over Mary’s and Jesus’s heads, there are two sprigs of pinkish-red dianthus (pinks) in the picture. It is hard to define their exact colour.
If pink, they are symbols of motherhood and happiness; if red, they take us towards the passion and crucifixion.
It is important not to lose sight of the humanity of Jesus. Some 30 years on from his own infancy, Jesus will say, ‘Suffer little children to come unto me.’ If they were very young, as is implied by all three synoptic Gospels, they would have been too young to be taught anything by him, or to have been able to pray with him.
He is not going to preach to them. So it is surely safe to assume that, once he had gathered them up, what they were most likely to do together was to play and have a merry time.
