This picture is not a picture of grace. It is a german icon of the 18th Century. The painter of the picture is not known.
Apart from the colored stone jewelry, which has a special reverence and gratitude expressed, it shows more meaningful than many pictures of grace the relationship Mary's both against her son Jesus, and her place for the believers.
Meaningful is the portrayal of Jesus, the dispenser of grace, the people have experienced and are still being experienced in many situations.
This picture emerged from a good knowledge of Theodokos- and Hodegetria (Mother of God) icons, shows the following important features:
Mary sees the viewer, the faithful,
Jesus sees the viewer, the faithful,
Jesus is donating the blessing with one hand and holds a cross in the other hand.
Jesus is in the foreground, Mary in the background.
The background of the picture, with icons always drawn in gold, is only in the holy shines of both people visible, but otherwise it is dark, black.
The picture want to tell us:

From the darkness of the time, from the darkness of the human inadequacy, inability of the human, to be a man according God the Creator's will, lights out on two particular people:
- The big portrait of Mary - its rather dainty hands part the child protective, part the child push to the viewers - She is dressed in a blue coat: on the one hand the blue of the sky (Celestial Queen, Star of the see), the other hand, the blue of the "Blue's", the work clothes of the working population. This blue shows their courage to serve to their willingness to work, to obey the will of God.
Her shirt is red. With red connects to the significance: love, suffering, blood. She is the person, the woman who has in the most evident way has responded to the love of God, but it is also the pain of the mother, her son had experienced on the cross:
Her heart was pierced with seven swords of pain.
- In the protection of the great figure of Mary, the shape of their child Jesus:
Symbolically dressed in the garb of golden royal dignity and a goldred shirt, also with the meaning of love and passion.
With his right hand blesses Jesus, in the other hand he holds the Cross meaningful purely coincidental before Mary's heart in the middle, the center of the image, as he wanted to say: in the cross is healing (1 Corinthians 1:18).
- Blessing and Cross are in a balance: he was ready on the cross for the salvation of the people, for the salvation of every individual, to ask the peoples who calls for blessing, also the Cross to take on.
The Cross is the central character of faith and it is most likely to compare the mother love: a loving mother is ready, very, very much suffering and effort to take on to her child to protect, to nurture and to get big. Therefore, the place of the Cross in front of the Heart of Mary.
The portrait of Jesus is full of movement: the blessing, the lifting of the Cross, the feet, based on the viewer seem to go there.
Mary in the background, on the other hand: radiating peace, in keeping with easily serve a slope head, a sign of listening: listening to the orders of God, and listening to the pleas of those who implore her.

This mother-child picture of Isabel Krsnic Lady is not an explicit picture, no picture of grace. There is a picture, painted in May 2009, our current time, as well as topical, as the popular image of Mary Help of Lukas Kranach it to his time in the 16th Century, and could be for our time and for future generations of Mary Help of grace image, if it appeals to the viewer, it is accepted by the people, and perhaps the 'blessings from above' happens.
This image - of the artist intuitively paintet - one shows the unconscious fears of our time, our children, their anxious adherence to the one at home and their quest for new far away, after almost never getting one.
The background is dark, a darkness, which frightens the child and in the other direction is, to light, but it is also not spared from the dark areas. Dark Shadows is also at the point after which the child its hand tried puts, a parable that also look into the future is ambiguous: the hope for a better life, but also become aware of evidence of climate change and emerging energy crisis.
The mother, on the other hand, almost as in prayer, contemplation, quiet expresses happiness and unlimited confidence in a good future for the child.
She is dressed in a blue blouse, as the Madonna of old statues and pictures with a blue coat is dressed. Its blue clothes, the blue of the work clothes of the working population, suggests many of their work, to surrender to the manifold, the mother of the child makes.
    The story behind this painting of her, the pain of being exposed to their first extracted, because of the theories of medical science and doctors because of their disease and medications she takes. After years of mourning, she decided to go for help of Mary Mother of God, coming to a sacred place Medugorije (it also could be annother sacred Mary place), between sobs, asked to pray where he endowed a healthy daughter.
  After a few months she was pregnant, during pregnancy daily without losing hope she communicated with her daughter, putting her hand to where the embryo was. His girl was born through operation, just before time to get rid.
With the help of Mary, Mother of God, she is healthy so far. She is the mother of a healthy girl, and her happiness is infinite, and also its great gratitude.

a picture with permission of: © Isabel Krsnic, 2008

A current meditation about the abuse of the Holy Mary images:

A cover picture of a worldwide pictorial magazine, released on Dec. 11, 2008 in Mexiko, vivirlatino.com gives to think in its dissonant representation:
The Mary Modell on the title page is quite respectfully and dezent explained, even the hand attitude is like as on old icons, but someone is missing there: Jesus, the divine child is missing, the redeemer!
This Mary - woman shape, coated and with an headscarf covered, is unclothed on the place, where in innumerable Mary pictures Jesus sits on her arm. This place of the body warmth, the human proximity, the early childhood nutrition, it is empty! Jesus, which drinks in many 'Mary-lactans' representations at the mother chest, is missing here.
Where is their child, where is Jesus? asks one itself automatically: don't we want Jesus as Savior? do we need no more the redeemer, because we became so intelligent humans? do we reject it approximately and do support an attitude, which approves of the abortion, without thinking about it? Did Mary become unemployed? Did it reject the glad message - euangelion - of the angel Gabriel in our sense?
Does it become now representative of all women and low income earners a ball and a desire object of rich and powerful ones? - The Mary model in this photo looks sadly, just like on many tear Madonna representations ...
For what all does the Martyrer, which gave certification for the mercy of God, have its life given? Is our human society, after the scourge of communism (in the GDR, Poland and Russia millions humans have it so felt) is defeated, to be sacrificed now unrestrained, contempting for human beings capitalism?
It functions completely obviously no other company form, than that, the achievement and profit-oriented are. The task of humans actual in this level of the human development - to find a kind social free-market economy, a consent, which considers careful progress into the rights of all humans likewise, like the environment and efficiency of the universe earth.
Who is willing to orient itself at the example and the behavior of Mary, will rather find this way of consent and will understand, why in circles, in which is preached: 'Jesus is Savior' - mainly into the own bag - which attacked the Holy Mary and our Pope Benedikt XVI masiv in the media.
www.vatican.va a Letter of Pope John Paul II. to Women
www.bai.org.uk Meditation to the Icon: 'Mother of God of Kazan'

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