New Life – Mother and Child

Rudolf Steiner’s intuitive artistic knowledge enabled him to use colors in a unique way that gives expression to their individual nature. Along with his many lectures on art, Steiner’s paintings provide artists with fresh ways of understanding color, allowing entirely new forms of creativity and aesthetics.

In 1924, Steiner painted a watercolor of the Madonna and Child, giving it the title “New Life.” Through Steiner’s depiction of Mary, mother of the Divine Child, this painting draws us to the feminine expression of spirituality. In this highly illustrated, full-color book, Angela Lord studies this feminine principle, beginning with the very earliest stages of human evolution—the “Fall” from paradise and the prehistoric periods of Lemuria and Atlantis. From the Mysteries of Egypt and Greece to the development of Christian art, she offers insights to the myths and legends of female deities and goddesses.

According to Rudolf Steiner, at the time of Jesus’ birth, humanity had entered a decadent phase of development. Small groups of initiated individuals, however, were preparing for a sacred birth—the descent of a heavenly being into earthly existence. The God of the Old Testament would be revealed “in flesh,” born to a virgin mother. In the second part of this book, the author takes us on a journey through two thousand years of Christian art, covering Iconography, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. We see how artistic images of Mary and her child have changed, why these variations occurred, and how they reflect the changing consciousness of humanity. Finally, the “New Life” painting is considered from the interactive processes of color and composition, illustrated with a series of artistic color sequences.