I was inspired to portray an encounter between Eve, “the Mother of All the Living” and Mary, the “New Eve.” What would this encounter be like? What, if anything, would be said between the two? In this depiction, Heaven and Earth come together as the Virgin Mother accepts the sorrowful repentance of Eve in a loving, merciful embrace. The lilies are symbolic of Mary’s Holy Innocence that she lavishes back upon Eve.
Through the process of developing this artwork, it became apparent that this is not merely an encounter between these two women alone. Eve stands in for all humanity seeking forgiveness and a renewal of Original Innocence. She is any woman who – whether through fault of her own or otherwise – has felt the pain of lost purity. Also, Eve desperately clings to the mantle of Mary for any man who has contributed in some way to the perversion of what is True, Good and Beautiful.
Latino, Paul. Mother of Mercy.
