Marian art in the Catholic Church

Summary

Mary has been one of the major subjects of Western art for centuries. There is an enormous quantity of Marian art in the Catholic Church, covering both devotional subjects such as the Virgin and Child and a range of narrative subjects from the Life of the Virgin, often arranged in cycles. Most medieval painters, and most artists from Catholic countries from the Reformation to about 1800, have produced Marian works, including old masters such as Michelangelo and Botticelli.