Friday, December 21, 2018

Reflections of Christmas

Copyright © Edward Riojas

A picture is worth a thousand words. For today's post, I've collected a few images of the Holy Nativity, courtesy of the masters, and decided to let them have their say, with little commentary of my own. None of them are first-hand accounts of the birth of Christ, since there is no record of any artist being present. Collectively, however, they point to the wonder of God's love – that He was born as a Child, that He saved us helpless sinners through His death and resurrection, and that He claims us as His own dear children.

Detail of Nativity Icon (Grotto of the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem)

Nativity. Fra Angelico. c. 1441. (Convent of San Marco, Florence)

Nativity. Gerard David. c. 1515. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

The Adoration of the Shepherds. Georges de La Tour. 1644. (The Louvre, Paris)

The Nativity. Edward Burne-Jones. 1888. (Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh)

Mexican 'Tree of Life' Nacimiento. Attributed to Alfonso Soteno Fernandez.

Modern Nativity Icon. Unknown artist.
(Note the swaddled Child in a stone manger, a conspicuous sign of  Christ's eventual death.

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