Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun (Paris 1755 - 1842), Madame Vigée-Le Brun and her daughter, Jeanne-Lucie-Louise, known as Julie, 1789, oil on panel, 130 x 94 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre 

The signs of hope: generating new sons and daughters 

In the first months of this new year, we allow ourselves to be accompanied by the Jubilee spirit that the whole Church intends to live. We are doing so with a particular slant: we intend to propose for reflection and contemplation some figures of women who embody, in the representations made by artists from different eras and places, what Pope Francis called - in the bull of Jubilee proclamation - ‘signs of hope’.

Countless choices could have been made to illustrate the desire to transmit life. We have chosen a beautiful painting by a famous French woman artist, who was forced into exile because of the Revolution in 1789, having worked until then at the court of Louis XVI. We also chose a female painter because giving birth is an eminently feminine act, and we felt that she might bring something extra to any male painter in terms of capturing the theme of motherhood in a painting. And we chose a self-portrait because the ability to render such an important and vital theme through art is even more evident and direct.

What I think strikes us most of all is the spontaneity that pervades the painting. The clothes of the painter and her daughter are very simple, their gazes are both turned towards us viewers, as if to show us the great affection that binds mother and daughter. The pose of the two protagonists seems to be inspired by well-known ‘majesties’: the mother is indeed seated, not frontally, but the slight torsion of her torso gives us the impression that she is.

But what best represents the joy of motherhood is the double embrace that the scene presents. The first is that of the child, whose arms encircle her mother's neck, giving the impression that she feels safe in her mom's arms. In fact, the second embrace, that of the mother, completely surrounds the little girl's body, leading the spectator to think, on the one hand, of protection and, on the other, of a desire to emphasise the maternal instinct in this way.

Certainly a painting of this kind highlights the intimacy of the subject, the depth of the bond that exists between mother and daughter, the joy of bearing children and experiencing motherhood as they grow up. It is truly a gesture of hope that we also find expressed through painting, capable as any art of conveying feelings, moods, sensations, desires.

Looking to the future with hope also entails having enthusiasm for life and a readiness to share it. Sadly, in many situations this is lacking. A first effect of this is the loss of the desire to transmit life. A number of countries are experiencing an alarming decline in the birthrate as a result of today’s frenetic pace, fears about the future, the lack of job security and adequate social policies, and social models whose agenda is dictated by the quest for profit rather than concern for relationships. In certain quarters, the tendency “to blame population growth, instead of extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the [real] issues”.

Openness to life and responsible parenthood is the design that the Creator has implanted in the hearts and bodies of men and women, a mission that the Lord has entrusted to spouses and to their love. It is urgent that responsible legislation on the part of states be accompanied by the firm support of communities of believers and the entire civil community in all its components. For the desire of young people to give birth to new sons and daughters as a sign of the fruitfulness of their love ensures a future for every society. This is a matter of hope: it is born of hope and it generates hope.

Consequently, the Christian community should be at the forefront in pointing out the need for a social covenant to support and foster hope, one that is inclusive and not ideological, working for a future filled with the laughter of babies and children, in order to fill the empty cradles in so many parts of our world. All of us, however, need to recover the joy of living, since men and women, created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26), cannot rest content with getting along one day at a time, settling for the here and now and seeking fulfilment in material realities alone. This leads to a narrow individualism and the loss of hope; it gives rise to a sadness that lodges in the heart and brings forth fruits of discontent and intolerance.

(Francis, Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee 2025,  Spes non Confundit 9)

(Contribution by Vito Pongolini)