Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The tradition that Christ was born in a cave is attested as early as the second century. In the Nativity icon overleaf the Christ-child lies in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes and worshipped by angels and animals. The ox and the ass witness the event, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaias 1: 3 and Ambacum 3: 2 (Habakkuk 3: 2). The star of Bethlehem is represented by a three-pronged symbol associated in iconographic tradition with the trinity . The Magi are often represented in early iconography one with a grey beard, one with a black beard and one clean-shaven. Two shepherds approaching from the right look up at the star, listening to the angel (Luke 2: 12). Joseph sits thinking over the birth, knowing he is not the father of the infant. In post-Byzantine tradition, the old shepherd who speaks to him is the devil, who tempts him to disbelieve the Virgin Birth. The theotokos reclines on a pallet or bed-roll, her post-natal fatigue indicating the reality of the birth of Christ and of the Incarnation. The two midwives preparing to bathe the Christ-child confirm his humanity. There is a deliberate reference in the manger and swaddling clothes to the tomb and grave-clothes of Christ. Many details are taken from early apocryphal texts, evidence of the importance of non-canonical writings in the development of eastern christian iconography. ( 1969 ), The Star of Bethlehem in ... log in or subscribe to read full text