Text transcribed from caption: PC-46013 FRESCO OF PREGNANT MARY IS ARTIST’S GIFT WEST JEFFERSON, N.C. -- Artist Ben Long IV (left) transforms Luke 2:5 -- “Mary…Who was with child” -- into a visual rarity as he executes a life-size fresco of the Virgin Mary about eight months pregnant with the assistance of the Rev. J. Faulton Hodge. The fresco, which was painted into fresh plaster in about four days, is the artist’s gift to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, a 100-member parish with a rustic 19th century roadside church in western North Carolina near West Jefferson. The “cartoon,” or study of the fresco, is at left. Mr. Long first visited the tiny church about two years ago while home in Statesville, N.C., from Florence, Italy, where he is studying the art of fresco under Pietro Annigoni, a master in the art but best known for his oil portrait of Queen Elizabeth. Last summer the artist offered to do a fresco for the church but Father Hodge, the vicar of St. Mary’s, admitted the parish could not pay for such a work of art. Mr. Long said it would be his gift and this summer he said he was ready to begin. The subject first selected was St. John the Baptist. But Father Hodge, in an effort to stir Mr. Long’s imagination, suggested a pregnant Virgin Mary, a rare sight in art history. The idea caught on because Mr. Long’s wife, Diane, was pregnant and she served as the model for the figure. The work, which was dedicated in early September, has Mary standing, turned slightly to the left. Her left hand is raised in a spiritual gesture. Her right arm cradles the unborn child. An eclipse signals the coming event. Next Summer Mr. Long will do a fresco of St. John for the church. He is now back in Italy where he is painting a fresco for a Franciscan monastery at Monte Catini, Termi. Credit Must Read: RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO by Frank Jones (FJ-WS-9B-74-DS)