Here we have a picture of a teenage mother who gave birth to her son in a barn. As you can see she recovered quickly, and is now hosting a group of smelly homeless men shepards. Mary, with a great glow about her, looks on the face of her baby laying under a heat lamp in a manger. In awe at his perfectness.
I found this painting via a google search for "Mary and baby Jesus" so I'm not sure who painted it, but I like it. Yes, it does show Mary sitting there being perfect with a halo over her head, but she's wearing red, not blue. She is passionate, not passive. And even though we see Jesus glowing like some sort of B movie radiation experiment gone wrong, there is something human about him. Overall, the thing I love the most about this painting are the shepards and the great texture and mystery in those shadows. There are people in this picture who don't look at all clean or holy. There are people in this picture whose faces we can't see. But they are all present. There is something honest about that one old guy who is shielding his eyes from the brightness of the glowbaby. Wonder trumps reverence in this one.
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