81 XI - THE ADORATION OF MARY of Joseph. The representation of the Father, moreover, has changed since the preceding Nativity. That one depicted himmore or less with the features of Christ and a cruciformhalo, in keeping with a tradition that deemed it impossible to represent God but agreed to give to the Father the face of Christ, because of Jesus’ words: He who has seen me has seen the Father (Jn 14:9). Since the middle of the 14th century, however, paintersmore andmore often have given himthe appearance of an old man with a white beard, taking their inspiration from the “Ancient of days” described in the vision of the prophet Daniel (7:9). This new depiction, with a naïveté that would have been unacceptable in the Romanesque period, speaksmore to the imagination, suggesting eternity and paternity. In this Nativity, the old man’s gesture, while repeating with his right hand that of the Byzantine Pantocrator, is transformed into a gesture of sending and blessing. Mary therefore receives her Son from the Father. She contemplates him fervently, as though the painter had decided to illustrate one of the antiphons chanted at Vespers for the liturgical feast of the Purification: Ipsum quem genuit, adoravit, “She adored the One whom she had brought forth.” The theme of adoration replaces the theme of childbirth. This rather radical transformationof the traditional iconography, probably due to the influence of the mystics, can already be observed in some 14th-century miniatures, and in the 15th century it spreads throughout the Western world. The Revelations of Saint Bridget of Sweden, composed around 1360–1370, contributed to the success of the new theme: The saint relates that during a pilgrimage to the Holy Places she had a vision of the Blessed Virgin, who reenacted before her eyes the way in which she had given birth. According to her description, Mary removed her mantle and undid her veil, letting her golden hair fall on her shoulders; she remained dressed simply in a white robe that made it possible to see her virginal body. She prepared the Infant’s diapers, then, as Joseph discreetly waited some distance away, she knelt down and started to pray. During her prayer, “the Divine Infant was born without any help, surrounded by a dazzling light.” Then the Blessed Virgin, “bowing her head, with her hands joined, adored him with great respect.”
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