Renaissance allegorical paintings of the Holy Family have always fascinated me. The Virgin Mary (Madonna) and baby Jesus is exalted by those around her, Joseph, Saints, children, cherubs and angels, all wearing robes of rich hues. In used the framework of these paintings to arrange the figures in this sculpture.

In this scenario, the mother's children adore her while she is in agony, birthing a child who is light skinned, as they all are. Any children born of an enslaved woman are also enslaved. My intent was to highlight the paradox of religion and the inhumanity and brutality suffered by enslaved women of childbearing age in the hands of their masters. 

* click the image to read what Jacquelyn Gleisner wrote in a review for Connecticut Art Review about this work.