{"id":668,"date":"2019-03-08T18:01:09","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T18:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/worldwariposters\/?page_id=668"},"modified":"2019-03-08T18:01:09","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T18:01:09","slug":"the-greatest-mother-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/worldwariposters\/the-greatest-mother-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greatest Mother in the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
u0003_0004200_0000071<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Title<\/td>\nThe Greatest Mother in the World<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Creator<\/td>\nA.E. Foringer<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Date<\/td>\n1918<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Format<\/td>\n20.5 x 27 in<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Description<\/td>\nA. E. Foringer\u2019s poster \u201cThe Greatest Mother in the World\u201d is one of the most famous and heavily studied images from WWI. The poster for the Red Cross appropriates Michelangelo’s celebrated sculpture “Piet\u00e0,\u201d which depicts Mary cradling the body of Jesus after the crucifixion; except in Foringer\u2019s case, Mary and Jesus are replaced with a nurse and heavily bandaged soldier on a stretcher. Perhaps the most striking departure from Michelangelo’s “Piet\u00e0\u201d that immediately grabs the attention of the viewer are the proportions. The Red Cross nurse is colossal in comparison to the wounded soldier, a grown man that is held by the nurse as if an infant. Several psychiatrists and critics interpreted the diminutive size of the man as an representation of cultural anxieties surrounding a perceived decline in male dominance during the time period. The Madonna figure cloaked in white sits on a platform beside a large red cross, the recognizable emblem of the organization and the only color present in the image. Beneath her feet, the text \u201cThe GREATEST MOTHER in the WORLD\u201d establishes the heavenly metaphor that Red Cross nurses embody the maternal spirit of Mary and that all soldiers are loved like children. The poster is predominantly promotional, as it does not specify any particular action the audience should take; nevertheless, the poster was so popular that it was reprinted again during WWII.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Copyright and Terms<\/td>\nImages are in the public domain or protected under U.S. copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code), and both types may be used for research and private study. For publication, commercial use, or reproduction, in print or digital format, of all images and\/or the accompanying data, users are required to secure prior written permission from the copyright holder and from archives@ua.edu. When permission is granted, please credit the images as Courtesy of The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Title The Greatest Mother in the World Creator A.E. Foringer Date 1918 Format 20.5 x 27 in Description A. E. Foringer\u2019s poster \u201cThe Greatest Mother in the World\u201d is one of the most famous and heavily studied images from WWI. The poster for the Red Cross appropriates Michelangelo’s celebrated sculpture “Piet\u00e0,\u201d which depicts Mary cradling … <\/p>\n

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