Mother and Child, Politics Wild: The Many Interpretations of Banksy at Christmas

On 16 December the anonymous British-based artist Banksy posted an image of a graffiti Madonna and Child on his Instagram account. The iconography is instantly recognisable. A young mother wears a cloth to cover her hair and looks down stoically at the infant in her arms. She offers the baby her nipple to suckle. Wander around galleries anywhere in the Western world and you’ll find similar depictions. The earliest visual depictions date from the second century in the Catacomb of Priscilla. Unlike the Banksy image, the mother and child in the catacomb work is stiff and jilted, which is characteristic of Medieval art until more naturalistic poses emerged from the thirteenth century, when it was reworked by the Renaissance Masters.

Banksy’s artwork utilises, but departs from, this Christian iconology in several ways. Many Gothic artworks embellished depictions of the Madonna and Child with real gold pigment. This was used to connote heavenly associations. In contrast, Banksy’s work is sprayed on the section of a steel cattle-trough. More striking, however, is that in place of her nipple is a hole that seeps a rusty drip. This is an original feature from the cattle trough which has been reintegrated to become part of the final image. Either a nipple, or it could be a bullet hole through her chest — because it is possible that the shading to the right is the nipple instead — in which case, rust represents blood pouring from the wound and the baby recoils in horror.

The contentious nature of this modern addition has generated much attention. Speculation is that this is Madonna and Child (2021), sold to a private collector in February 2024. The posting of the work on 16 December therefore appears seasonal, and a comment on how Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Palestine). Instagrammers overwhelmingly related the graffiti to Gaza. “To the Mothers and Children of Gaza, the ones Jesus himself would hold most dear”; “This is clearly about Palestine”; and “As it was then, so it is today. A Palestinian mother hunted to the ends of the earth.” These conclusions were made all-the-more feasible given Banksy’s long-term support of Palestine. Many commentators linked the work to Banksy’s series of murals on the apartheid wall in Gaza and West Bank. His “The Walled Off Hotel” overlooks the Israeli security barrier. An earlier work by Banksy entitled Scar of Bethlehem depicts the traditional nativity scene but the group sits underneath a start-shaped bullet wound, again inflicted on a steel panel. As he explains on his Instagram, this is a modified nativity set for the Walled Off Hotel.

Banksy dips his foot into politics more frequently than a crocodile takes a bath. In 2020 he funded and repainted a rescue boat for refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. On the side bears his instantly recognisable “Balloon Girl” stencil, but this time she reaches up to a heart-shaped safety float. In all these examples, children are invoked, a reworking to suggest lost innocence amidst conflict. The shocked expression of the baby Jesus in the Madonna and Child work attests to this, thereby appropriating Christian imagery for political cause.

Political aggrandising by Banksy is completed under a pseudonym. Supporters of the artist suggest that this is so the focus is kept on his art and its messages, thereby avoiding any biographical fixation on the artist. Celebritization of the artist in this biographical manner began with Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects in 1550. [sentence to say what this does] The anonymity of artistic identity arguably does not prevent this fixation. Speculation about the real identity of Banksy is as old as his oeuvre. One of the most likely suggestions is Robin or Robert Cunningham, whom the Daily Mail described as “a former public schoolboy brought up in middle-class suburbia”. Given the political aggrandising of today, these origins would be in-keeping with luxury beliefs espoused by the artist.

Nevertheless, in the situation where his identity cannot be ascertained for certain, his persona is built on politics, and meaning is left to the viewer. Arguably, its posting on Instagram is a new form of democratization because of its public nature. Explaining to another, one respondent wrote: “that’s the whole point of Banksy work. It could mean multiple things at the same time (Gaza war and pollution etc) but the use of mother and Jesus makes it somewhat close to whats[sic.] going on in Palestine.” Banksy is anonymous. This is why meaning must be transferred to the people online.

Despite the overwhelming focus on the Gaza war, there were some other repeated interpretative lenses. Some related it to the Ukraine war and the suffering of Ukrainian mothers. Some linked the work to the issue of breastfeeding: “could this imply a mother’s lifestyle choices impact the milk she feeds to her baby who has no choice but to accept it? Or perhaps that the chemicals in our food go directly from mother to baby through breastfeeding?” However, due to the fact that this graffiti is not new but from 2021, its posting just before Christmas would make this motivation unlikely – albeit affording the Christmas dinner with a whole new main course. Others related the artwork to the climate: “Mother Earth feeding the new generations after being treated bad for so long..” and “from my point of view, it is a perfect representation of pollution. How can we not think about future generations?” The Mother stereotype is poignant and has cultural clout, but again this interpretation seems a long stretch. Both interpretations suggest how viewers afford meaning based on their own political priorities.

These readings are in complete contravention with the intimacy of the iconography. Depictions of the Madonna and Child differ according to the intended function of the image. Traditionally, the suckling child was reserved for personal devotion, and usually smaller-in-scale than the more impersonal versions where Mary stands, such as in Late-Gothic sculptures. The publicness of social media disrupts the intimacy of Banksy’s composition. It is significant that he chose to depict not like the stiff Medieval depictions but as naturalistic and intimate. Skin-to-skin contact, we are voyeurs to this centuries’ old tale, where Mary only has eyes for Jesus. Instagram invites interpretations made through political spectacles, but Christmas is a time to reflect on the birth of Jesus: a miracle that continues to inspire joy and love, not linked to the celebritization of an anonymous artist known for political aggrandising. The phenomenon of multiple interpretations of Banksy’s work reinforces the idea that the power is in your hands, the viewer, the reader. In this new year, have the courage to shift the narrative back to Truth.

Merry Christmas one and all.