Rauschenberg painted the Masonite panel on which Mother of God is composed before adding the map fragments. In this detail we see a painted area along the left side, beneath the map of Philadelphia. Although this section of the work is mostly white, patches of black are also visible, suggesting that Rauschenberg began with black and later covered over some of the black areas with white paint.
Detail of Robert Rauschenberg’s Mother of God showing layering of maps and paint
Part of the Rauschenberg Research Project
Related to Mother of God, ca. 1950
Detail of Robert Rauschenberg’s Mother of God showing layering of maps and paint
Related to Mother of God, ca. 1950
Part of the Rauschenberg Research Project
