History The first ancient author to mention a Marian interpretation is
Epiphanius, (he heavily influenced Augustine), but he is ambiguous. Other early authors who held this view include the unknown author of the
History of Joseph the Carpenter, by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, depicting the
Virgin and Child surrounded by
angels. In modern times, the Marian interpretation has been affirmed by
Pope Pius X,
Pope Pius XII,
Pope Paul VI, and
Pope John Paul II. Theologians view the Woman of the apocalyse in
Revelation 12:1–3 as a foresight to the Virgin Mary, both the mother of God and the mother of church; taking Revelation 12 as a reference to Mary, Israel, and the Church as a threefold symbolism through the Book of Isaiah and affirms Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ as the prophetic fulfilment described in Revelation 12 (cf. Isaiah 7:14, 26:17, 54:1, 66:7).
Pope Pius X explicitly identified the "woman" of the Revelation with the Virgin in his encyclical
Ad diem illum. Pope Benedict XVI also made this identification several times, associating the "crown of twelve stars" with Mary's authority among the saints. The same did
Pope Francis.
Theological interpretation The woman's "male child" is a reference to
Jesus (Revelation 12:5), since he is destined to "rule all nations with a rod of iron" (Revelation 12:5). The dragon trying to devour the woman's child at the moment of his birth (Revelation 12:4) is a reference to
Herod the Great's attempt to kill the infant Jesus (Matthew 2:16). Through his death and resurrection and Ascension, Jesus "was snatched up to God and to his throne" (Revelation 12:5). In the interpretation of
Pius X (1904), the birth is not that of Jesus but "surely ours", (i.e. the
Church Militant) "we who, being yet detained in exile, are still to be brought forth to the perfect love of God and eternal happiness".
Veneration Both Marian veneration and the interpretation of the Woman of the Apocalypse are recorded since at least the 4th century, but the specific veneration of Mary in this form becomes tangible only in the medieval period. Iconographically, Marian figures associated with the Revelation narrative are recognizable by the astronomical attributes, specifically her standing on a
crescent moon, and the crown of twelve stars (while the description "clothed with the sun" is sometimes rendered by rays emanating from her figure). Association of Mary with a single star is recorded from the early medieval period, in the hymn
Ave Maris Stella. Many depictions of Mary from the
Gothic period (14th to 16th century) show her standing on a
crescent moon inspired by the association of Mary with the woman of the Apocalypse. The motif became so popular in 15th-century Germany that pre-existing Madonna figures were refitted with a crescent (e.g. Madonna of
Bad Doberan, c. 1300, refitted in the 15th century). The
Virgin of Guadalupe was depicted as the Madonna of the Apocalypse since at least the 16th century. The Madonna of the Apocalypse became associated with
Our Lady of the Rosary, the "crown of twelve stars" being identified with a "rosary of twelve privileges" of Mary. The Virgin of the Rosary is frequently shown with the crown or halo of twelve stars (but not the crescent moon) in modern depictions (since the 19th century). A notable example is the
Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei. An anecdote (first published in the 1980s) connects the design of the
Flag of Europe (1955) to this aspect of Marian iconography. ==Interpretation as the Church==