Mary, the mother of Jesus: Patroness and Artistic Subject

Mary in her aspect of the Immaculate Conception is the patroness of the United States, and Our Lady of Guadalupe was declared Empress of all the Americas by Pope Pius X. With Lumen Gentium (1964), Pope Paul VI proclaimed Mary as Mother of the Church. In the 1980s, while it was still a part of the USSR, Pope John Paul II dedicated Russia to her. Artistic representations of Mary are innumerable; for differing aspects, see Christian iconography under iconography. She has been the subject of countless works from the time of the pseudepigrapha.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Patroness and Artistic Subject
• Apparitions
• Intercession and Veneration
• Virginity and Immaculate Conception
• Her Significance in Christianity
• Her Life
• Bibliography

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