I think what the world considers beautiful nowadays is the top one, with hooded eyes, too full upper lip, the sexual overtones..... I don't see that as beautiful. I think the second or third looks better.
For me it will always be Our Lady of Guadalupe. Her face is so very beautiful. I often contemplate it when saying the Rosary. I do think Maia Morgenstern in The Passion has a wonderful very Jewish face as well. The only actress on film to play Our Lady from the heart. Although I do think Olivia Hussey tried.
Years ago, I found a life-sized sculpture of Mary's face cast from the Pieta by Michealangelo and it is so beautiful! The Vatican put these out years ago and you can still find them. I love to pray with this image, and it hangs in my music room.
One thing I notice in Church, especially with the older ladies is how living a good, holy life transforms their faces. It is almost as though a light came off them. I notice this best of all what they are praying, say in front of a statue or lighting a candle. Their faces kind of lights up. I think it might be difficult for an artist to catch such a moment. Mary told one visionary, 'I am beautiful because I love'. I suppose the same could be said for us all when we love. One thing I think is true and that is because Mary was sinless she did not age. But even so she was a second Eve before the Fall, so Jesus and Mary would both have naturally been very,very beautiful. I think the rendering from Guadalupe is not so different than that from Turin.
Saint Bernadette Soubirous was asked one time if she ever saw a piece of art that looked like Our Lady at all? She always said no but there was one painting of Mary, I think from Brittany that she though was closest. It was an Impressionist painting, A style of painting that kind of regards things from the heart. That sees things from the inside out, so I can see why this might be so. https://blog.holyheroes.com/10-things-you-might-not-know-about-saint-bernadette-or-lourdes/ The story goes that Bernadette didn’t like painted images of Mary…she said that they didn’t look like her Lady at all. The only image she would pray with is this one (which tradition says was painted by St. Luke). She said this image looked the most like the Lady who appeared to her in the grotto. It’s called Our Lady of Cambrai, and you can purchase pictures of it when you visit Lourdes.
It's not her flesh that makes her beautuful, it's her Grace. You can't contain grace in a human capsule. And 'artificial intelligence' is another demonic insult to human intelligence. Something to ponder . . .
Here is Our Lady's face, as portrayed by the angels who miraculously created her face on the statue of Our Lady of Good Success (or the Good Event). I don't believe Mary looks anything like that sexualized image created by the artist. Her face would be a very pure, modest, and loving beauty. Our faces reflect our souls.
Here's a copy of Our Lady of Cambria from the 15th century (I really liked it when I was reading about the original so I thought I'd post it). Hayne of Brussels' Virgin and Child:
From “Conchita’s Diary” “The Blessed Virgin appears with a white dress, a blue mantle and a crown of small golden stars. Her feet are not visible. Her hands are wide open with the scapular on the right wrist. The scapular is brown-marron. Her hair is wavy and parted in the middle. She has an oval shaped face and her nose is long and delicate. Her mouth is very pretty with rather full lips. The color of her face is dark but lighter than that of the angel; it is different. Her voice is very lovely, a very unusual voice that I can’t describe. There is no woman that resembles the Blessed Virgin in her voice or in anything else.” Here we have at least an overall picture of Our Lady as she appeared. As a further supplement, we go to an interview with Conchita conducted by Spanish artist Dona Isabel de Daganzo dated July 2, 1966*.
Well, I mean you can contain grace in a human capsule, but I think I know what you meant. I took a photo of this woodcut on a trip, didn't realize it was inspired by the Cambrai Madonna but in retrospect it looks like it. Unknown artist, I think, from the 1500s or so:
I figured out how to post the image bigger. Mary's face here is exquisite, and like the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it was created by Heaven itself. So it must tell us a lot about what Mary looks like.
