ABSTRACT
The starting point for my story is an early-sixteenth-century painting which carries the title Spes Nostra. This painting is presently in the possession of the Rijksmuseum and certainly merits a place in a book on sanctity and motherhood (fig. 10.1). The name of the painter is unknown—he is referred to simply as the Master of the Spes Nostra. 1 The words spes nostra, “our hope,” refer to the pregnant woman in the background: it is the young Mary, visited here by Elizabeth who is seen touching her belly. The words also refer to the well-known medieval song “Salve Regina” about the Virgin Mary: she is the hope of mankind at the hour of death, because through her son Jesus Christ she realized the redemption of mankind. As Marbod of Rennes describes her in his poem “Stella Maria” from the beginning of the twelfth century: Anonymous, Spes Nostra, a commemorative painting, c. 1508 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203775080/9831cd87-8e33-41e7-8ccc-c951f5b8440e/content/fig10_1_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
After the Lord, you are the hope of men whom the mind conscious of sin consumes—the mind which is contaminated through contact with Venus. 2
