Painted Mysteries

When looking at a painting of the Madonna with the Christ Child, do you know why Jesus is clutching a goldfinch? Or why a peacock often appears in paintings of the Annunciation? Can you use your knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology to interpret what is going on in Botticelli’s Primavera? Are you so steeped in the Bible that you know why Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt? Past generations would have known the answers: religious belief and the mythology of antiquity permeated people’s