Entriamo nella casa dei coniugi Arnolfini e ci pare di conoscerla già. Sono secoli ormai che questa casa tiene aperta la sua porta al grande pubblico, secoli che viene visitata, commentata o, semplicemente, guardata.

The image of Mary as mother presented through the centuries by Christian art is centered on love and contemplative interiority. We sense in countless images from the Middle Ages onwards that the artist wanted to illustrate the attitude described by Luke, in his narrative of the worship offered to the infant by some shepherds, when he says, “As for Mary, she kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (2:19).

In a room immersed in darkness, there is a workshop and a sitting room with tools, chairs and a little stove for heating. On a diagonal from the left, a light from heaven with a stream of little angels pours out over Mary and the Child, the light of revelation.

A man and a woman are sitting next to each other on a bench. Their arms entwine to hold their little child together, a living tie between them, a permanent bond. Their raised knees and hollow busts form a kind of hospitable nest: the family is the sanctuary of life.

With a rather arid, barren hill in the background, Eve is spinning wool while her two small sons grab at her legs. Adam is digging the ground with a spade while his cape flutters in the wind.

A splendid feast celebrated in the open space of a very noble city with the lively participation of a great crowd. In the proscenium the large banquet table is placed on three sides with the bride and groom to the left, and Jesus Christ and Mary in the center

Durante l’udienza generale di mercoledì 11 aprile, Benedetto XVI ha benedetto il mosaico della Sacra Famiglia realizzato da p. Marko Rupnik, immagine ufficiale dei prossimi Incontri Mondiali delle famiglie.