Madonna motive

[strzegoduszka]

Hello
I'm supposed to write a work about Madonna motive in Dostoyevsky's works, but I couldn't find much about it, except the obvious:

"Beauty! Moreover I cannot bear it, that another, even more upright in heart a man and with a mind lofty, can begin with the ideal of the Madonna, and end up with the ideal of Sodom. More fearful still, is that the one with the ideal of the Sodomic in soul does not deny also the ideal of the Madonna, he is ardent in his heart, and in truth, in truth he is as ardent as in his youthful, innocent years. No, man is vast, too vast, I should judge"

And I'm wondering haven'n any of you ever came across a picture of Madonna on a wall or something related to her in any of Dostoyevsky's book?

*sorry for mistakes, english is not my first language:)

[lerik]

Hello!
Do you need any references from the life of Dostoevsky?I know for sure, that his favorite picture was Sistine Madonna.He even had a reproduction of it in his home in Petersburg.
As for works...Cannot think of anything right now,sorry

[kudzai]

In Crime and Punishment, part 6 chapter 4, Svidrigalov describes the Sistine Madonna has possessing "a face of mournful religious ecstasy"

This also might be of help to you:

http://www.fyodordostoevsky.com/yabbse/index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=430

[poor knight]

Maybe don't take it literally but rather look at some of the women like Sonya (C&P), Lise (TBK), Natasha even (Idiot), etc... FD's women are his strongest characters, the most noble and the most sacrificial. I expect that if you were assigned this topic, the professor envisioned a larger study of the women in his works that reflect the ideals of the Madonna. Even many of his short stories (A Gentle Creature, Netchoka Nezvanova, Poor Folk, The Landlady) are great sketches of amazing women. If you can get a copy of The Landlady, it's short and exquisite. So is Netochka. If a longer book, then definitely C&P where you get both the literal and figurative reference.

Here's a good article http://www.utoronto.ca/tsq/DS/09/163.shtml