The Color Blue

Our Lady is nearly always depicted in art as wearing the color blue.  We wondered why, and a quick search of the internet turned up an Aleteia article which addressed this issue.

Here’s an excerpt from that article:

For the people of Israel blue brings to mind the following of God’s Commandments, as opposed to a person’s selfish will.

This was perfectly lived out by the Blessed Mother who said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). She was the faithful “Daughter of Zion” who fulfilled the call of obedience that God had asked of the Israelites.

Additionally, Numbers indicated that “the Levites are to ‘spread over [the Ark of the Covenant] a cloth all of blue’ (4:6). And further: ‘And over the table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue’ (4:7).”

Mary is traditionally referred to as the new Ark of the Covenant, as she held within herself the Divine Presence of God.

On the other hand, the Byzantine/Orthodox tradition of clothing Mary in blue has a different meaning.

Blue in iconography represents transcendence, mystery, and the divine. It is the color of the sky and as a result is viewed as a heavenly color.

Red in contrast is seen as an earthly color, the color of blood.

Jesus is typically depicted in icons with a blue outer garment and a red inner garment, symbolizing how divinity wraps his humanity.

Mary on the other hand is seen with a red outer garment and a blue inner garment, representing how she carried divinity (Jesus) within her humanity.

…blue is a very important color in the artistic traditions of Christianity and has deep spiritual meanings that bring out different attributes of the Blessed Mother. It is a sacred color, one that reminds us of Mary’s faithfulness and her privileged role in salvation history.

Here is a link to the full article: https://aleteia.org/2017/06/24/why-is-the-blessed-virgin-mary-always-wearing-blue/

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