Madonna of the Chair

CALAUAG, NAGA CITY—Of all the photos taken at my cousin Maita Cristina’s daughter’s birthday celebration last night, this one makes me take a second look. The way my cousin holds Celestine Faith in her arms reminds me of Raphael’s Madonna of the Chair which I first saw in my Grade 6 class in the late 1980s, which I have not forgotten since.
An iconic High Italian Renaissance art from the 1500s, Raphael’s masterpiece portrays the Blessed Virgin cuddling a cherub-like baby Jesus, as his cousin John, son of Elizabeth, watches adoringly.

But more than anything, this last night’s photo shows a poignant image of how a mother could still cuddle and comfort her child after she had a very long day. In the midst of the crowd, it is the serenity from within the mother that hushes the child. At the end of the day, what is simply pure and true is the warmth: the strength and assurance only a mother could give not only to her child but really to herself.