Mark Caron

"Nôtre Dame de Piété et de Gloire" means "Our Lady of piety and glory" in French. For me the name suggests her obedience and humilty towards God's plan and how through that strong faith she's elevated to a position of glory and reverence.

It was a gift I gave to my mother last Christmas. I chose the subject and concept of this painting as a gift to my mother for many reasons. The most influential reason is that I know my mother has a particular interest, as she's mentioned before, in how it must have felt to be Mary. I believe this discussion arose after Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" came out.

My mother seemed fascinated by the movie's portrayal of Mary, the Mother of God. If you take a moment to think about it, what would it be like to be in her shoes? How would it feel to be a mother losing a son? How could she have so much faith to allow her son to go through with His plan? How could a human be torn between two such things—the love of her son and her faith in him as Christ? I was trying to capture this very feeling she must have had as she embraced him (as other artists in the past have depicted this scene).

I believe the scripture of "Mary's Song" illustrates her feelings pretty well:

"And Mary said:

My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."

- Lk. 1:46-55