Where contrasts collide: "Madonna with the machine gun"

Latvian graphic artist and painter Kārlis Padegs is the most extravagant personality in Latvian art history not only because of his works but also his provocative appearance.

In 1930s in Riga he was known as a legendary dandy and outsider.
His expressive works were in striking contrast to the traditionalist currents of the time.

The painting "Madonna with the Machine Gun" brings together beauty and ugliness, triumph and destruction, light and darkness in a single symbolic message.

The work shows a seemingly calm, light-haired woman with fine features who does not appear to be involved  in the action. 

We see that she is held on the shoulders of several soldiers, whose expressions are unclear, disfigured by fear and horror. 

It may bring to mind the Medieval tradition of using the image of the Mother of God as a guardian and patroness in battle, carrying her image in front of the army or placing it on the defensive walls of the city.

In Kārlis Padegs' interpretation, Madonna is carrying neither the Christ Child, nor a cloak that could shield the soldiers, but rather a machine gun – the main “arbiter” (bringer of death) during World War I.