This note explores connections between the picture and The Gospel of James and broaches a question of depth psychology.

1. When reading articles and scholarly studies, I have come across opinions
that would implicitly disqualify the ‘apocryphal’ gospel of James as
something lacking full biblical authority in the matter of the Virgin Mary’s
status within Christian theology,and this despite that fact that it provided the
premise on which rest essential aspects of Roman Catholic attitudes on
issues such as celibacy, sexuality and not least the doctrine of the
Immaculate conception of Mary the mother of Jesus. It was only relatively
late in the annals of papal history, in 1854 in fact, that this doctrine was
precisely defined and certified as a part of the Roman Catholic Church’s
officialand binding body of teachings but the debate as to the validity of the
doctrine had beenthe centre of intense concernsince the Middle Ages.Thus
it was that Leonardo da Vinci received a commissionto portray the Virgin in
a way that conformed to a passage in the Gospelof James setting Mary in
a cave near Bethlehem where she seeks to escape the infamous massacre
of babes instigated by King Herod of Judea. The completion of this
commissionhas enriched the world with a painting on a wooden panel that
bears the title The Virgin of the Rocks. Appropriately enough in view of its
historical context, it found its place in the chapel of the Confraternity of the
Immaculate Conception at the church of San Francesco Grande in Milan.
We see in this picture Jesus and John the Baptist in their infancy. According
to the gospel of James, John was also in Bethlehem at the time of the
massacre. His father the temple priest Zechariah refused to inform Herod
as to his son’s whereabouts and was slain as a consequence. John was
saved miraculously when a cave suddenlyappeared on a mountainside and
enclosed the infant assuring his survival . In line with this narrative the
painting shows John in the act of paying homage to Jesus by a sign of

2. benediction. In Luke’s gospel a similar affinity is evinced by the motion of
John while still an unborn child within his mother’s womb. Indeed,according
to one point of view the cave symbolizes Mary’s womb as a pure place
befitting its significance according to the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception. There is no sign of Joseph in the picture. In the course of time
the version of events rendered by the Gospel of James was aligned to the
narrative of Matthew’s Gospel according to which Mary and Joseph made
their way to Egypt.