From Virgin Mary to Nudes, from Jesus to Mozart and Giovanni Paolo II are essays which are taken from Julia Kristeva's book, Bisogno di Credere.
In particular in the essay, From Virgin Mary to Nudes, J. Kristeva analyzes the idea of beauty of women for Christianity and focusing on the Virgin's figure, especially in Giovanni Bellini's painting.
The essay, From Jesus to Mozart, is the recording to a conference held by J. Kristeva in Paris on 16th March 2006. In particular the author analyzes what suffering means and relationship between suffering and psychoanalysis. In conclusion, J. Kristeva analyzes the figure of Giovanni Paolo II.
Christianity, according to the Christian point of view, sets the Virgin Mary as the canon of beauty, love and incarnation. In fact the woman leads to Incarnation, because her body'serves the purpose  to give life to Jesus, and Love is spiritually and faith live Jesus and the Church.
As a result artist's representation of the Virgin Mary reflect the artist's psychology, culture and imagination. In the past, artists were men, therefore they represented women from their point of view. In particular J. Kristeva picks out the representations of women are a transfer of men's own femininity, which are expression of their psychology.
Consequently, the Virgin Mary becomes a stimulus to imagination and representation. Moreover, the female body becomes a projection that is a representation of the multiple expressions of the artist's soul and which is particularly visible in G. Bellini's paintings. Some of these paintings represent the Virgin Mary as a symbol of suffering.
Suffering means mourning from happiness, the lack of happiness into mourning. Also Jesus becomes a tribute to  suffering, because Jesus dies in suffering.
According to Kristeva's point of view, the only instrument capable of alleviating the suffering is music, which is the expression of a purification from suffering.
Catholic suffering transfiguration. Indeed he teaches  that mankind has to search God even if we do not believe in him. Therefore, J. Kristeva gives him credit for having found the way to believe inside himself.