Madonna and Child (Tomatokos) by Nick Leeper, SJ
- Nicholas Leeper
- Jun 7
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 4
Preparation: Context & Orientation
This work playfully reimagines the traditional icon of the Theotokos, which means “God-bearer,” another name for Mary, the Mother of God. This is a Madonna (literally "my Lady" in Italian and another moniker for Mary) and Child piece given the title. The Madonna and Child was a very popular subject in Christian art history. Some examples are below, but they always involve the mother Mary holding her son, Jesus. The idea was to show how Mary presents or bears Christ to us in our lives. In the medieval mindset, going to Mary was a surefire way to get what one needed from Christ in prayer. It was also a reminder that religious people can also be like Mary and bear Christ in the world spiritually.
Okay, so I see the mother, but where is the child? Given the halo, the tomato soup can stands in the place of Christ. That soup can is familiar perhaps in our every day lives but also in the world of Pop Art. Andy Warhol popularized the soup can with his famous prints, and here that same soup can in placed in the hands of a holy woman - given away by the halo. But that soup can also is holy. Warhold sought to highlight the ordinary in our every day lives and show how glamorous it really is. The woman holds it up not just to show how beautiful it is, but also how good it is.
Well, what's with the chicken pox? The Madonna is rendered in Pop Art style evocative of Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein used dots when painting figures because Benday dots was a way of printing comic books and other ephemeral materials in the mid-twentieth century. Lichtenstein elevated the ordinary to something extraordinary - he made comic books into high art.
And the gold background and the hieroglyphics? Well, that's Greek not Egyptian, but the lettering is certainly not familiar to many of us. In Byzantium, sacred icons were a primary medium in religious art. They almost always had gilded backgrounds to represent the heavenly realm where the saints lived. And the lettering was to give the religious clues as to who they were looking at - or more accurately who was looking at them from Heaven. The red lettering mimics traditional Eastern Christian inscriptions: MP ΘY (Mother of God), IC XC (Jesus Christ), and ὁ ὢν (the "One who is," which is a reference to God's name found in Exodus 3). The names are short because these are Greek initials, which take the first and last letter of a name and put them together. So if this was in English, "Mary" would be "MY" or Jesus would be "JS."
Meditation Experience: Encounter with the Work
Reflection & Response: Creative or Critical Engagement
Below are a list of activities students can do to respond to this exercise prayerfully and creatively:
Written reflections: (journaling/blog posts, essays, etc.).
Write how 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 applies to this painting.
What does it mean to carry Christ like Mary does here in today's world?
Small group discussion questions/presentations
Can art that is funny still be sacred? Why or why not?
Projects: Art projects/prompts, Project based learning
Create your own Pop Icon: students can reinterpret a religious using everyday objects in a similar style using paint, pencils, collage, or digital art.
Smaller prompts: quick discussion questions, drawing exercises, writing exercises, etc.
Icon-Label Activity: Students label items in the classroom, home, or backpack with the item's spiritual meaning. Students can come up with a couple of items and descriptions, or a longer list.
Comic Caption Exercise: Pop Art and comic books often have speech bubbles capturing the thoughts or words of characters. Take a copy of the painting and imagine what Jesus or Mary might be thinking or saying and share with a partner, group, or the class.
