Madonna with an apple. Canvas. Acrylic. 18″ by 13″. /available at  McMaster Gallery and Custom Framing/

Madonna with an Apple brings a contemporary domestic still life into conversation with the long tradition of religious painting. A familiar metal kettle and fruit occupy the foreground, while the partially obscured Madonna and Child inhabit a second pictorial space beyond the sweeping white cloth.

The apple provides the connection between these two worlds. Held by the Christ Child in the background and repeated among the objects of the still life, it crosses from the historical image into the present. In Christian iconography, the apple can evoke the Fall and Christ as the “new Adam,” transforming an ordinary piece of fruit into a symbol of redemption.

Part of the same developing series as Tea with Modigliani, the painting explores the meeting of art history and everyday life—of sacred imagery, memory and familiar domestic objects.