It is especially clear in the iconography of Jesus, but we note that in Mary as well. There is suffering Christ and there is Christ in glory, and likewise there is Mary the handmaid of the Lord and Mary Queen of Heaven. Suffering and triumph intertwine in Christian theology and images of suffering and triumph intertwine in Christian art.
The Late Renaissance was the time when it seemed to us that the Church has triumphed, or is close to triumph. The radiant with happiness smiling Madonna was the face of the Church. Protestantism was the enemy of that from the beginning.
Madonna with a Flower (Madonna Benois)
Leonardo da Vinci
c. 1478
Oil on canvas transferred from wood, 50 x 32 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg