In an unprecedented and controversial act, an artist from North Carolina came up with a painting depicting Angelina Jolie as Virgin Mary, no less. Painter Kate Kretz is no newbie to creating art. In fact, she has been painting for about 20 years. However, this is the first work of art that she created to attract this much attention.

The painting shows Angelina Jolie up in the clouds with her baby Shiloh and her other children Maddox and Zaharah clinging to her legs. The medium is acrylic and oil in linen. What possessed Kate Kretz to depict such a scene?

According to her, she has sort of an obsession with how people tend to worship celebrities. This is what she is trying to portray in her painting called “Blessed Art Thou.” So how come she chose Angelina Jolie? Well I suppose she has been a constant fare of the celebrity news columns. The painter herself gives a reason: “because of her unavoidable presence in the media, the worldwide anticipation of her child, her ‘unattainable’ beauty and the good that she is doing in the world through her example, which adds another layer to the already complicated questions surrounding her status.”

Kretz has gained a lot of popularity because of the painting and you can read her thoughts on her blog. She has been gathering the attention of the media as well. What really interests me, though, is how Angelina Jolie is taking all this. After all, it is not everyday that one gets to be portrayed as the Virgin Mary.