Nativity
Basic Info
Matthew 1:18—2:12, Luke 2:1–20
Born of a woman, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word, became flesh and so took on all it means to be a human being, including a family and daily life. Only Luke and Matthew include reports of Jesus’ birth in their Gospels, and their reports differ. Luke focuses on the miraculous nature of the birth, the physical struggle of the census trip to Bethlehem, and the announcement to the shepherds; Matthew focuses on genealogy, dreams, the star and the wise men, and the flight into Egypt.
Some artists choose to focus on one version of Jesus’ birth, others combine Matthew and Luke’s versions into one scene, and still others tell the story in a sequence of sorts with different moments of the story happening in different parts of the artwork. Today there is a lot of attention to the differences in the two stories, but the stories have often been seen as simply emphasizing different aspects of Jesus’ origins, each mystical in its own way, but each also human in its own way. Some artists even add figures who aren’t named in the Scriptures but who are mentioned in other legends that arose about the event, such as midwives. Icons of the Nativity tend to portray Mary as still lying down after giving birth.
Nativity images also present the viewer with ideals of family and motherhood, ideals that change from culture to culture and era to era. These ideas both emerge from and shape the culture.
What to Look For
• Whether Jesus or someone/something else is at the center of the artwork
• The artist’s use of light in the artwork (In some Baroque works, Jesus is the source of light.)
• Whether the artist includes shepherds (Luke) and/or wise men (Matthew)
• Joseph’s relationship to the event (in the background, engaged, happy, sad, sitting or doing something, etc.)
• Mary’s attitude toward the newborn Jesus (motherly, prayerful, reflective, exhausted, etc.)
• Whether Jesus looks like a small grown man (with the wisdom of God) or a human baby
• Foreshadowing of Jesus’ life/death/Resurrection or mission (a cross, soldiers, symbols of the Crucifixion, etc.)
• Whether the location and context looks like the artist’s time and place or the artist’s imagined vision of 1st-century Palestine
• The mood of the artwork (celebratory, the fatigue after childbirth, reverential, foreshadowing his suffering, etc.)
Questions to Focus a General Interpretation
The Nativity tells the story of God’s being born into the human condition. In this depiction, is the human condition good or bad? Does this artwork depict any obvious change in that condition brought about by Jesus’ Incarnation?
Does the artwork explicitly connect Jesus’ birth (Incarnation) with his mission, death, or Resurrection?
The three wise men are often depicted as three kings. The kings’ attitude toward Jesus can symbolize the relationship between the government and God or the government and the Church. Does this artwork suggest anything about the relationship between Church and state?
The shepherds can symbolize the common people. The shepherds’ relationship with the angel and with Jesus can symbolize the relationship between God and common people or the Church and common people. How does this artwork depict those relationships?
Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation
What about the artwork attracts you? What repels you? Consider those emotions as windows into your own understanding of Jesus’ Incarnation. Is the artwork about the Son’s becoming a human being out of God’s love for human beings, God’s desire to walk among us? Is the artwork about Jesus’ coming to save human beings by redemption, atonement, substitution, or conquering sin? Which are you more comfortable with?
Notice the postures and attitudes of the wise men and shepherds toward Jesus. Do you exhibit similar postures or attitudes toward Jesus?
Notice the depiction of family. Does it offer affirmation or challenge to your family life? in what ways?
Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation
What was the human condition in the artist’s time and place? Is this reflected in the artwork? Does the artist depict a positive, neutral, or negative outlook for humans?
What was the relationship between Church and state in the artist’s day? Might the artwork be a case of the Church’s telling the state how it should behave? Might the artwork be an example of the state’s telling the people, “You can trust us; we are close to God”? Is there a more subtle Church/state relationship reflected in this artwork?
What was the power dynamic between the Church and the common people in the artist’s time and place? How does the artwork enforce or question this dynamic?
What were the living conditions for common people in the artist’s time and place? What was the role of religion in inspiring a will to live in the face of those conditions? Does the artwork take a stance toward, or play a role in, that inspiration?
