Madonna of the Garden

I was commissioned by my first cousin once removed to draw a Madonna and child with the symbols of the Catholic deaconate.  This was a fun commission due to my training as an art historian. I wanted to make sure that all of the symbols in the image were appropriate to Mary. I imagined a sort of modern hortus enclusus, or enclosed garden, which was a symbol of Mary's perpetual virginity in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. For that reason, there is no sky, just garden. I added various flowers that were symbols of Mary: rose, lily, columbine, and periwinkle, seen in the garden and on her veil.  The gospel and chalice are symbols of the deaconate, and I added an image of Jesus' passion: the Crucifixion and Lamentation, on the pages.  The chalice and Eucharistic host was decorated with silver, as was her habit and flowers of the garden, while I gilded the haloes to catch the light. I will show it to you before and after gilding (the gilded images are photos as it's hard to scan).