The Virgin of the Rocks

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) — c. 1483–1486 · Oil on panel · Louvre Museum, Paris

“When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:” — Matthew 2:14 (KJV)

About

Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks (about 1483–1486, Louvre version) places Mary in a dripping grotto of fantastic stone, sheltering the child John the Baptist, an angel pointing, the infant Christ blessing — geology and botany rendered like dreams, theology like mist.

The Meaning

The subject is the meeting of the two children of promise, John and Jesus, before either could speak — the forerunner already kneeling, the Saviour already blessing. The wet rocks preach in their own way: the Rock of Ages first sheltered in a rock's shadow.

For Us Today

God meets His people in unlikely places — grottos, prisons, sickrooms, street corners. If your surroundings are dark and strange, do not conclude He is absent; some of His best-attended meetings happened in caves (Psalm 139:7–12).

Image: Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons — the file’s page. Tap the picture to open the full-size original there.