Hidden in the backwater town of Nazareth, Mary was a Jewish virgin and the Virgin Mother of God. Well, if we take the Gospels as gospel.
Betrothed to Joseph, the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary to inform her that she would be visited by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Messiah, a grace Mary gladly accepted.note Nine months and a migration to Bethlehem later, Mary gave birth to Jesus, Son of the Father, while maintaining her virginity. Mary had her son circumcised and brought before the Temple in Jerusalem, after which little is known about her life until her son began to minister. At that point, Mary convinced him to perform his first great miracle at Cana (John 2:1-11) as he turned water into wine.note She accompanied her son until his death on the cross, where he told his follower, John, to regard her as his own mother. (John 19:26-27.) According to the Acts of the Apostles, Mary was present in the Christian community after Christ's ascension and eventually, if Catholic tradition can be trusted, she assumed bodily into heaven.
That'd be miraculous enough for anyone, but Mary wasn't content with that. She's had an astonishingly active post-Biblical career
, according to pious legend. She is, among other things, patroness of Mexico, of the United States (the US being hostile to Catholics until one became President, the American Church must have figured that they needed the biggest guns they could find), and of France (that's why many prominent French cathedrals are entitled Notre Dame, "Our Lady").
Known by a myriad of titles — you can find an "Our Lady of" just about anything, because she is beloved and revered in many ways by Christian all around the world. Her major feasts are January 1 (her motherhood, celebrated by Roman Catholics, as substitute for the feast of the circumcision of the newborn Jesus, held as per Jewish tradition eight days after his birth), May 31 (her visit to her cousin Elizabeth, who was also pregnant with John the Baptist, whereupon Mary spontaneously composed the Magnificat prayer [see June 24]), August 15 (the anniversary of her Assumption), August 22 (the eighth day after the Assumption, celebrated by Roman Catholics as her queenship), September 8 (her birthday), November 21 (her presentation in the Temple of Jerusalem, according to an apocryphal account), and December 12 (her conception, nine months before September 8); in addition, Roman Catholics also celebrate her apparitions at Lourdes in South-Western France (February 11), Fátima in Portugal, (May 13-October 13), Mount Carmel in Israel (July 16), and Guadalupe in Mexico (December 12), as well as her titles as Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15) and of the Rosary (October 7).
The amount of devotional Art dedicated to Mary is difficult to imagine, but it led to the existence of whole tropes like Pietà Plagiarism, A Saint Named Mary, and Madonna Archetype. In fiction, Mary is most often present or referenced as a shorthand for Incorruptible Pure Pureness or to complete a Messianic Archetype.
Works featuring/referencing Mary:
Anime and Manga- My Last Day, a short Anime depicting the Passion
Art
- The Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci.
- The altar painting of the Sistine Chapel shows Mary as a Primary-Color Champion standing beside the Apollo-like Christ.
Film
- Ben-Hur (1959) opens with Joseph and Mary leaving Jerusalem for Bethlehem and the Nativity.
- From the Manger to the Cross (1912), one of the first feature films ever made.
- The Gospel According to St. Matthew, in which Jesus is depicted as more of an angry rabble-rouser.
- The Gospel of John
- Jesus (1979), A word for word adaptation of The Gospel of Luke.
- The King of Kings, a silent film by the director of The Ten Commandments.
- King of Kings, a 1961 Epic Movie narrated by Orson Welles and colorized remake of 1927's black and white original Cecil B. De Mille epic only also without "The" in its title.
- The Gospel According to St. Matthew, a 1964 Italian film with the dialogue ripped straight from Matthew.
- The Greatest Story Ever Told, an 1965 Epic Movie starring Max von Sydow.
- The Last Temptation of Christ, a novel and film which paint Jesus as a flawed man whose life goes differently at the Crucifixion.
- Parable, an allegorical short film featuring Jesus as a circus clown.
- The Passion of the Christ, where Mary's compassionate suffering with her son is greatly emphasized.
- The Nativity Story
- Son of God, a Compilation Movie adapted from the History Channel's The Bible.
- The Visual Bible: Matthew
- The Young Messiah
- The Song of Bernadette in which Bernadette's lady is finally revealed to be Herself. Here she's played by a radiantly pregnant Linda Darnell.
- The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, a dramatization of the events at Fatima, Portugal in 1917, one of the best-known Marian visitations. One of actress Sherry Jackson's first roles. Mary is played by Angela Clarke, who also played Lucia's mother.
- Mary Magdalene
- In Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frollo's song, "Hellfire," is addressed to her. "Beata Maria" is Latin for "Blessed Mary."
Literature
- The Bible, of course.
- The Four Gospels deal with Mary to varying amounts, with Luke and Matthew depicting extensive Nativity narratives with her while John depicts her as more active during Jesus' ministry.
- In Acts of the Apostles, Mary is briefly mentioned as among those followers of Jesus living in Jerusalem after his ascension.
- The Book of Revelation, a woman likely meant to symbolize Mary is described as being hunted by a dragon.
- The Qur'an. A whole chapter is devoted to Mary or Maryam. She gets a lot more coverage in Islam than she does in Christianity.
- Mary kicks off the plot of The Divine Comedy by sending Saint Lucia to send Beatrice to start Dante's tour through the afterlives. She is also repeatedly referred to in Purgatorio as an example for the penitents to follow and appears at the end of Paradiso to pray to God to allow Dante to better see Him.
- Mary is mentioned twice in Paradise Lost in reference to her role as a replacement for Eve. She also appears near the beginning of the sequel, Paradise Regained.
Radio
- The Man Born to Be King, twelve radio plays depicting Jesus's story in highly modern language.
Television
- Some episodes of The History Channel's The Bible.
- Some episodes of NBC's AD: The Bible Continues, a follow-up series to the above.
- The Chosen TV Series
- Jesus (1999)
- Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter
- Jesus of Nazareth, a 1977 television mini-series.
- Mary And Joseph:A Story Of Faith (1979)
- The Nativity (1978)
- The Wishbone episode "¡Viva Wishbone!" dramatizes the Marian apparitions attributed to Juan Diego in 1531
Western Animation
- The Star, a computer animated film about the nativity told from the perspective of various animals.
- Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, Nestor helps Mary get to Bethlehem.
- The Miracle Maker, a stop-motion retelling of the gospel told through the eyes of a Delicate and Sickly Jewish girl.
- The Little Drummer Boy, a stop-motion television special based on the Christmas carol of the same name. Mary appears at the end in the manger, as the drummer boy sees the newborn Jesus.
- The Night the Animals Talked: She is only seen from afar or in shadow.
- The Small One: she is only visible in silhouette form on the donkey towards the end.
