The Virgin and the visual artist as theologian : Examining two Marian images by David Jones

Abstract

The achievement of David Jones in poetry, prose, and visual art constitutes one of the past century’s most distinctive and sustained contributions to incarnational Marian theology. Jones’ Marianism is here engaged primarily through two images, Guenever (1938–1940) and Aphrodite in Aulis (1941). Ewan King examines the background of these evocative works and the painterly performance of theology through visual rhythm and representational allusivity. In drawing out the biblical and mythical associations of Mary with suffering, scandal, and erotic freedom, King argues that Jones encourages a visual theology in which the layered and affective experience of culture is accessed indirectly rather than through traditional intellectual articulation. In so doing, King further commends the images’ ‘mobilising power’ in challenging contemporary, divided, ecumenical reception of Mary.