Publisher: Romain Lizé Editor : Claire Stacino Translator: Michael J. Miller Graphic design: Diane Danis assisted by Robin Hourmant (cover) Proofreading: Samuel Wigutow Production : Thierry Dubus and Florence Bellot Copyright © 2023 by Magnificat Inc. All rights reserved. First edition: 2023 ISBN: 978-1-63967-079-6 Original French edition: Noël sous le regard des peintres © 2016 by Mame, Paris. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address Magnificat, PO Box 834, Yonkers, NY 10702. www.magnificat.com
hristmas of painters through the eyes Éliane Gondinet-Wallstein Magnificat® Pa r i s · Ne w Yo r k · Ma d r i d · O x f o r d
6
7 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 I - THE SIGN OF THE STAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 II - THE SIGN OF THE CROSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 III - THE BYZANTINE TRADITION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 IV - JESUS, SON OF DAVID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 V - THE YOUNG WOMAN GIVING BIRTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 VI - CATALANNATIVITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 VII - EARLY FRENCHNATIVITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 VIII - ARMENIANNATIVITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 IX - THE LIGHT OF THE DAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 X - JOSEPH THE UNLOVED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 XI - THE ADORATION OF MARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 XII - THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 XIII - THE ADORATION OF THE UNIVERSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 XIV - HEAVEN COMES DOWN TO EARTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 XV - ABLINDING LIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 XVI - IN A DARK STABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 XVII - THE PRESENTATION OF THE INFANT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 XVIII - THE ORCHESTRATION OF THE MYSTERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 XIX - AN OBSCURE BRILLIANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 XX - ASPECTACLE TO ANGELS AND TO MEN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 XXI - HIS ARMS OUTSTRETCHED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 XXII - HE HAS COME AMONG US . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 XXIII - AN ETERNAL LIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 ART CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 (Gérard David, Holy Night , around 1495, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum) TABLE OF CONTENTS
10 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS “BORN OF THEFATHER, NOW IN FLESH APPEARING…” For centuries, untiringly, Christians have sung about Christmas. And for centuries, in their wake, artists have depicted the Nativity of Christ. Rarely has a subject been treated so often and been such a favorite; rarely has a subject awakened so much resonance in the imagination and in faith. Christmas, a feast fraught with tenderness, celebrates something quite simple and very mysterious: the birth of an infant. Christmas, a feast fraught with hope, announces that the coming of this little child into the world concerns not only his parents, relatives, and friends but all humanity, towhich it provides access to the divine life. “Oadmirable exchange,” the feast-day liturgy proclaims: God becomesman so as “to make us share in his divinity,” he comes to dwell in our mortal flesh so as to give us a share in his eternal life. Behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day...a Savior.... These unfathomably new and glad tidings were brought first to simple shepherds, according to the Gospel of Luke (2:1-20); then to wise men who had come from the East, according to the Gospel of Matthew (2:1-12). At the origins of Christianity, the two times of this “manifestation of God” on earth among men were celebrated on the same day, although on various dates depending on the region. The memory of this is still preserved in the Byzantine icons that gather the heralding angels, the shepherds, and the Magi together in praise of the Child. From the 4th century on, however, two concurrent traditions spread, since Eastern Christians tended to celebrate the birth of Jesus on January 6, the day of the Epiphany, and Western Christians on December 25, Christmas day. Finally, after the two feasts had been adopted by all the Churches, the Christmas liturgy crystallized around the passage fromLuke (the birth of Jesus and the visit of the shepherds)
11 and the liturgy for Epiphany around the passage from Matthew (the adoration of the magi). Very soon Western depictions reflected this by treating the two subjects separately. The theme of Christmas and its expression in the art of painting will be favored here. Yet even when limited in this way, the field of investigation is immense: There are countless Nativities and, among them, innumerable masterpieces that would deserve to be taken into consideration. It is impossible, in the restricted framework of this book, to view them all. Therefore another course of actionwill be adopted: we will consider only a small selectionof paintings, while taking the time to look at them, to situate them in their particular era, to soak in their beauty, to seek to understand what their creators wanted to express in them. Starting with the most ancient, we will come down through the centuries so as to see, little by little, the outlines of a development. The paintings were chosen because each of them, in its own way, manifested an advance or a turning point. They were selected for their expressive value, their ability to bear witness to the changes that had occurred. Indeed, althoughEasternChristians approached the divinemystery in an almost timeless manner, those in the West, especially from the medieval period on, proposed increasingly varied interpretations of it which were influenced by their country, their era, their way of life, and the personal inspiration of each artist. Thus, from the 3rd to the 20th century, the theme was profoundly transformed: Its evolution reflects that of the mentalities, and this is what we will try to bring out, by letting each of the Nativities “speak” as we contemplate them one after the other. ❖ INTRODUCTION
12 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS In the semi-darkness of an underground gallery, we barely can make out the drawing of a mother nursing her child: The bottom of the fresco has crumbled away, but the upper part is still legible. No doubt this mural in the Catacomb of Priscilla, in Rome, is the first image of the Nativity that has come down to us. Still, it suggests more than it actually depicts. Although the fresco is difficult to date precisely, we can say that it goes back to the first half of the 3rd century: to a time, therefore, whenChristians were not yet tolerated in theRomanEmpire and practiced their faith as an underground Church. The young woman, seated, holds the infant on her knees facing her. The child, with his hand on his mother’s breast, turns away from her and looks at us, as though to establish communication with the passing visitor. Standing near them, a figure clothed in a toga points with his hand toward a star in the shape of a flower above the mother The sign of the star
13 I - THE SIGN OF THE STAR and child. This sign enables us to identify the scene: The star is the one that guided the Magi from the East to the newborn Jesus, according to the Gospel of Matthew, and the young woman is Mary, his Mother. What about the figure standing beside them? He holds in his left hand one of those scrolls on which biblical texts were written back then: He is a prophet, one of those who prepared the Jewish people for the coming of Christ. Most commentators agree in identifying him as ( Prophet with star and Virgin with Child, fresco in the Catacomb of Priscilla, in Rome, first half of the 3rd century) On the left, the prophet points out with his finger the almost indiscernible star-flower. On the right, the Infant turns away from his Mother’s breast to look at us. Above them are the branches and fruits of a tree of life.
14 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS Balaam, who had announced the Messiah awaited by the Hebrews in these terms: A star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel (Nm24:17). The early Christians liked to repeat these words while applying them to Christ: In the 2nd century, some authors such as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus of Lyons compared the passages from Numbers and Matthew, the prophetic star of Balaam and the star that led theMagi. The sign of the star became the symbol of Christ himself, Light and Life for the world. No doubt this comparison was made at the very beginning of Christianity: French Cardinal Daniélou established, in Primitive Christian Symbols, that this prophecy of Balaam was often cited in the JudeoChristian community in Syria, which was led to emphasize the sign of the star because of its frequent contacts with the Iranian magi and their astrological teachings. This painting, therefore, is symbolic rather than narrative. The Christians in the catacombs were not seeking to illustrate the Gospel. They inherited fromJudaisman instinctivemistrust of images that were too “representative” and of the idolatrous temptations which they might cause. Nor did they make any claim to artistic originality. They were quite simply inspired by the Greco-Roman paintings that they knew: Clothing a Jewish prophet in a Roman toga did not bother them at all. Their concern was not to show but to evoke. Stirred up by the powerful dynamismof their faith, they wanted to orient minds and hearts to theGospel. In those times of persecutions, they had twomajor preoccupations: proclaiming that Jesus was born, died, and rose again to save mankind by giving them access to a new form of life which is the very life of God; explaining that this “newness” fulfills the millennial promises of the Jewish Scriptures. And their art reflects these two preoccupations. Their images speak about life. It is very striking to note that this funerary art—since the catacombs were used as cemeteries until “A star shone forth in heaven above all the other stars, and its light was inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. And all the rest of the stars, with the sun and moon, formed a chorus around this star.... And they were troubled, wondering where this new spectacle came from, which was so unlike themselves. Then every kind of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness was removed, ignorance was dispelled, and the old kingdom was abolished.” (Saint Ignatius of Antioch, early 2nd century, Letter to the Ephesians 19:2-3)
15 I - THE SIGN OF THE STAR On the frescos in the catacombs and also in the sculptures of the sarcophagi, the theme of the Adoration of the Magi, which symbolizes mankind’s reception of the Savior, appears before the theme of the Nativity strictly speaking. the early 5th century—present none of the images of mourning that were customary in antiquity: noweeping womenwith disheveled hair, and no lamentations, but instead green trees and birds of paradise inspired more or less by the Elysian fields. In the midst of them, the Christ, with the conventional features of a young herdsman, with a sheep on his shoulders: This is the Good Shepherd who came to seek and save the lost sheep. So he is depicted right beside the Nativity. Light foliage—the graceful branches of a tree of life with superabundant fruits—traces around theman atmosphere of gladness, an imperceptible space, with neither volume nor weight. A “space” that refers to the new life over which death no longer has power. Tragedy is no longer the coin of the realm here: The images assert hope, a taste of assurance. This hope corresponds to the expectation of the Jewish Scriptures— which the Christians nowcall the “old” Testament, in comparison to the “newness” of theGospel. For them, Christ fulfills all the prophecies, and this is how they present the Nativity: as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Balaam. A fulfillment, though, that infinitely surpasses it. Out of Israel has arisen a Light that has come to enlighten not only the Jewish people but human beings of all races, nationalities, and religions—including these foreign magi who practice the religion of Zoroaster and are painted in nearby frescos on their journey toward the Child. The sign of the star is extremely eloquent for the earliest Christian community: it signifies that the coming of Christ renders obsolete the beliefs in any control that the stars might exercise over human beings, and it forcefully proclaims that his Gospel is addressed to all mankind. In the obscurity of the catacombs, the prophet with the star and theMagi arriving from the East testify to a Light that is capable of dispelling all darkness, whether of ignorance of or sin, the darkness of death or the darkness of persecutions. ❖
78 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS The adoration of Mary We have already encountered this altarpiece by Master Francke, painted in 1424 and preserved in the Hamburg Kunsthalle; one panel of it, the Adoration of the Magi, showed good Joseph carefully putting the precious gifts from theMagi in a safe place. But there is no trace left of this amused condescension in the star-studded Nativity that is its counterpart. Joseph is absent from it, and a type of unaccustomed depiction makes its appearance: Mary is no longer stretched out, but rather kneels before the Infant, who emits a luminous radiance. This innovation is registeredwithin a context that repeats traditional elements: the mountain, the place of the divine presence; the earth (Master Francke, The Nativity, Hamburg Altarpiece, 1424) Mary is no longer stretched out, but rather kneels before the Child, who emits a luminous radiance. Under the influence of the mystics, the theme of adoration has replaced the theme of childbirth.
80 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS The divine fatherhood is strongly emphasized by the sheaf of luminous rays that emanates from the Father’s lips, suggesting his creative breath. (Master Francke, The Nativity, Hamburg Altarpiece, detail) split open to welcome the Child; the dark cave suggesting the night of sin—and, in the distance, the annunciation to the shepherds. Yet they make all the more surprising this vision of Mary kneeling, her hands folded, with the features of an adorable young woman; her long golden hair is let down, without the slightest trace of a veil. The Childwhomshe adores is stark naked, still curled up in a nearly fetal position; he seems to be landing on the ground. A sheaf of luminous rays departs from the lips of the Father, at the very top of the panel, and ends at the Child, forming the central axis of the composition: Earth and heaven are thus joined, and the radiance of the Newborn proceeds directly from the divine light: The Infant “descends from heaven”; he is the Father’s gift to the world. The accent here is placed very strongly on the divine fatherhood; this ismade evenmore evident by the pure and simple deletion of the figure
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.”
82 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS This is the vision that Master Francke transposes rather exactly; he goes so far as to place on the Blessed Virgin’s lips some of the words of adoration the saint has her pronounce: Dominus meus et Deus meus, “My Lord andmyGod.” TheNativity has become a face-to-face encounter between theMother and the Son, which the painter exalts by adding his personal touch: Three angels spread Mary’s large mantle around her, like an improvised shrine that will shelter the God-Infant. Other images from the same period show her mantle as a refuge for sinners in search of forgiveness. The painting by Master Francke is indicative of the immense love that the Middle Ages lavished on Mary: “The angels revere her, the nations awaited her, the patriarchs and prophets announced her, she was chosen among all and preferred to all,” Saint Bernard wrote; for Dante, she was “the Rose in which the Divine Word was made flesh”; for the faithful, she is Our Lady, and liturgical hymns sing of her mercy and beauty. In her honor a multitude of cathedrals rose up; sculptors depicted her motherhood and her coronation in heaven. The painters were not to be outdone: Seeking to celebrate inseparably her physical beauty and her spiritual beauty, they gave her the face of a Madonna, inspired by the most graceful of the “human models” surrounding them. Here, the wavy hair of a young woman who has just untied her tresses frames the sweet face of Mary. And her beauty is enhanced by the rays that formher halo; the resplendent “glory” that surrounds the Child is communicated to his Mother. Around Mary, the red of the angelic wings matches the red of the Father’s garment and the red of the sky with its constellations of stars: The color of blood and of love invades the scene, forming a splendid and symbolic backdrop for the cascade of divine light that is concentrated on the Infant and gives the picture its meaning. Jesus is “light fromlight,” according to the formulation of the Council of Nicaeawhich the painter has expressed visually here. Christ is the light that scatters the darkness and gives life to the world. This theme of light is very eloquent for the people of the 15th century, who were subjected much more than we are to the rhythm of day and night; for them, light was synonymous with life. Many, many Nativities will take up this theme insistently. ❖ Saint Bernard, Letter 174 to the canons of Lyons. Dante, The Divine Comedy: Paradiso, XXIII, 73, 102.
125 The presentation of the Infant While in Italy Caravaggio disoriented his contemporaries by his naturalism, in Toledo El Greco disconcerted his by the “extravagance” of a style of painting that deliberately distorts the proportions of the figures, dislocates their bodies, and exaggerates their movements. There was little resemblance between the personalities of Caravaggio and El Greco, and even less between their paintings, but they have one characteristic in common: a fierce insistence on their artistic and spiritual independence. Domenikos Theotokopoulos, called El Greco, felt that he was all the more free to paint however he liked this final Adoration of the
126 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS Shepherds—he treated the theme several times—because he designed it for his own funeral chapel. He too was drawing near to the end of his life. At the age of more than seventy, he already felt the shadow of death coming over him—the shadow that makes his Nativity dramatic by giving that muchmore power to the light streaming from the Child. How strange it is, this Nativity stretched out lengthwise, this crown of angels and shepherds whose vibrant bodies are lengthened disproportionately around the Child. The light radiated by theNewborn projects it supernatural brightness on the emaciated faces, starkly heightens the contrasts of colors on the limbs and the garments, and pushes back into darkness the scenery that has been reduced to its simplest possible expression. Above all it magnifies the face of Mary, which by dint of the illumination is almost as white as the cloth on which the Child is reclining. El Greco is no longer content to highlight the symbiosis between the Mother and her Newborn. In that era a new gesture surfaces in Christian art, repeated many, many times in 17th-century paintings: the presentation of the Child. The Blessed Virgin now shows him to the shepherds, delicately lifting the corner of the white cloth on which he is resting, like the Host at Mass on the corporal prepared to receive it. The development which little by little transformed the theme of the Nativity into that of the adoration of the shepherds finds its outcome here. Not only the birth of theWordmade flesh is celebrated here, but also, and even more clearly than in the past, the recognition of him as Son of God by the first ones to adore him. The Infant is “presented” to them in a quasi-liturgical way that suggests themore andmore frequent expositions of the Blessed Sacrament in a century marked by a reaction against the Protestant Reformation and by the exaltation of Eucharistic devotion. Forming a circle around this “bread of life,” his adorers express the various nuances of a common ecstasy. The shepherd closest to the Virgin receives, as she does, the divine light full in the face and bends over as though to receive even more, (El Greco, Adoration of the Shepherds, 1612–1614, Madrid, Prado Museum)
A new gesture surfaces in Christian art, the act of presenting the Infant, whom Mary shows to the shepherds by lifting the corner of the white cloth on which he is resting.
128 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS with his hands raised in a gesture of respectful wonder. His neighbor with his arms crossed on his chest, a muscular shepherd painted from a low angle like Correggio’s but spiritualized by his intense recollection, seems almost to fly away despite his feet being firmly planted on a rock. The third shepherd, an old man who faces Mary, has knelt down, his toes curled up as though he hardly dared to come near, his back gnawed by the outer darkness, but his hands joined in ardent supplication and his profile illumined by the divine brightness. This old man who seems aware of his unworthiness—the painter’s standin?—nevertheless allows himself to be transfigured by the magnetism that irresistibly draws him toward the little baby. Joseph, on the left, is an integral part of the circle of adorers. His body, unbelievably lengthened and twisted beneath the violet and yellow draperies that clothe him, forms a counterpart to that of the old man. His face, which is struck directly by the light of the Child, and his movement back from the revelation of the divinity show that he is confronted with amystery that is beyond him. But the dazzled separation of his two hands frames the white cloth held byMary and visually completes the exposition of the Child. Corresponding to these bodies that stretch out toward the Son of God like burning flames are the long figures of the angels in the sky who participate in their ecstasy. Theirmission as heralds is diminished in favor of their office of giving praise: Once the Good News has been transmitted to the shepherds, they have nothing more to do than to enter with them into thismystical round of adoration, and to let themselves be carried away by the joy of the Gloria that they brandish with delight. As in the painting by Botticelli, heaven and earth meet around the Childwho is the connecting link. But the clashing colors, the explosion of forms, and the neglect of draftsmanship in favor of stark contrasts between darkness and light are far removed from the graceful style of Botticelli. El Greco is indeed the son of that violent Spain he adopted when he left his native Crete to settle in Toledo. Toledo, where he breathed the same air as Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross, his contemporaries.
129 XVII - THE PRESENTATION OF THE INFANT At the hour when Domenikos painted his last Adoration of the Shepherds, those mystics, consumed by their passion for God, had left their earthly dwelling place and finally reached the heaven towhich they had incessantly aspired. But theirwords still floated in the Toledan air, enlightenedminds, and inspiredEl Greco to paint these bodies that never stop straining toward heaven. I am acquainted with the source, it flows, it runs, but it is by night... I know that there can be nothing more beautiful and that heaven and earth come to drink there, but it is by night... Its brightness is never darkened and I know that all light springs from it, but it is by night... This living source of my desire, I see it in this bread of life, but it is by night. This poem by John of the Cross is perhaps the most beautiful in all Spanish literature; did El Greco hear it being sung within him as he was painting his Nativity? This was the third time within a period of two or three years that he returned to this theme. In the earlier versions—pictures now in Valencia and in the Metropolitan Museum in New York—he had assigned greater importance to the scenery and had painted a structure around the figures, an annunciation to the shepherds in the distance, and a lamb with its feet tied in the foreground of the scene. Now the hour has come to eliminate what is superfluous, to purge his canvas of anything that could diminish its intensity. Nothing is left of the structure but a sketch of a vaulted door, the annunciation to the shepherds is omitted, and the sacrificial lamb is reduced to a bright spot set off to one side. A cloud and a rock can still
130 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS be made out, but that is all. All that matters now is the gap in the night caused by the light, the outburst that liberates the bodies from their earthly weight, the desire that moves minds toward Christ. And the face-to-face meeting of the old man with the Child. Domenikos finished the picture that his faith had inspired him to paint. He ordered his son to carry out his final requests, received the last rites, and died on April 7, 1614, crossing in his turn the threshold of the new birth for which his faith had prepared him. ❖
Printed in 2023 in Slovenia by GPS Group – 23L0573
174 CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF PAINTERS ART CREDITS Cover, pages 8-9: Adoration of the Shepherds(c. 1640), The Le Nain Brothers (17th c.), oil on canvas, 43 × 54,6 in., The National Gallery, London. © Bridgeman images. Page 6: Holy Night (c. 1495), Gerard David, oil on oak, 22 x 16 in., Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie, Vienna. © akg-images / Erich Lessing. Page 13: Prophet with star and Virgin with Child (1st half of the 3rd c.), mural on stucco, 16 x 11 in., Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome. © akg-images / Fototeca Gilardi. Pages 17, 23: Gospel scenes (6th c.), icon painted on the cover of a reliquary, egg tempera on wood, Vatican Museums, Chapel of St. Peter Martyr, Rome. © Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Pages 27, 33: Nativity (11th c.), fresco, church of the monastery in Eski Gümüs in Göreme, Cappadocia. © akg-images / De Agostini Picture Lib. / G. Dagli Orti Page 30: Nativity, detail of an icon of the Deisis and the twelve feasts (11th c.), egg tempera onwood, monastery of Saint Catherine of Sinai. ©akg-images / De Agostini Picture Library. Page 31: Nativity, byzantine icon (15th c.), egg tempera on wood, State Hermitage, Saint Petersburg. © akg-images / Album. Page 37: The Nativity (2nd half of the 9th c.), Gospel book produced for Archbishop Ebbon, Latin ms 9386 fo 64, illumination on parchment, 10 x 9 in., Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. © BnF, Paris. Page 41: The Nativity (9th or early 10th c.), fresco, Church of Santa Maria Foris Portas, Castelseprio (Varese). © akg-images / De Agostini Picture Lib. / A. De Gregorio. Page 44: The Adoration of the Magi (9th or early 10th c.), fresco, Church of Santa Maria Foris Portas, Castelseprio (Varese). © akg-images / Pietro Baguzzi. Pages 47, 49: The Nativity (13th c.), detail from the frontispiece of the altar in Sagàs, paint on wood, Diocesan Museum, Solsona (Lerida). © akg-images / De Agostini Picture Lib. / G. Dagli Orti. Pages 53, 55, 57: The Nativity and the Annunciation to the Shepherds (c. 1100), Sacramentary of Saint-Étienne de Limoges, Latin ms 9438, fo 19 vo, illumination on parchment, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. © BnF, Paris. Page 61: The Nativity (12th or 13th c.), Gospel book of Vaspurakan, ms 404 fo 1 vo, illumination on parchment, Armenian Museum, Isfahan. © Bridgeman Images. Pages 65, 67: The Nativity (1304–1306), Giotto (c. 1266–1377), fresco, Scrovegni chapel, Padua. © akg-images / Cameraphoto. Pages 71, 77: The Nativity, Anonymous from Meuse, 15th c., tempera on oak, 13 x 8 in., Mayer van der Bergh Museum, Antwerp. © akg-images / Erich Lessing. Page 74: The Nativity (late 14th or early 15th c.), Conrad von Soest (1370–1422), tempera on wood, 30 x 36 in., Stadtkirche, Bad Wildungen. © akg-images / Erich Lessing. Page 75a: The Holy Family with Angels (c. 1410–1415), Master of the Middle Rhine Region, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. © BPK, Berlin, Dist. RMN-GP / Jörg P. Anders
175 Page 75b: Adoration of the Magi (1424), Master Francke (c. 1383–after 1436), Hamburg Altarpiece, Kunsthalle, Hamburg. © BPK, Berlin, Dist. RMN-GP / Elke Walford. Page 75c: The Nativity, detail (c. 1350), Master of Vyšší Brod, tempera on wood, 33 x 37 in., Narodni Galerie (Saint George Monastery), Prague. © Bridgeman Images. Pages 79, 80: The Nativity (1424), Master Francke (c. 1383–after 1436), Hamburg Altarpiece, Kunsthalle, Hamburg. © BPK, Berlin, Dist. RMN-GP / Elke Walford. Pages 85, 86, 89, 90, 91: The Nativity (c. 1430), Robert Campin (Master of Flémalle, c. 1375–1444), oil on wood, 34 x 28 in., Fine Arts Museum, Dijon. © akg-images. Pages 93, 94, 95, 97: Nativity Altarpiece, called the Bladelin Altarpiece (c. 1452–1460), Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1399–1464), oil on wood, 36 x 35 x 16 in., Staatliches Museum, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. © Heritage Images / Fine Art Images / akg-images. Pages 103, 105: The Mystical Nativity (1500–1501), Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510), tempera on canvas, 43 x 30 in., National Gallery, London.©National GalleryGlobal Limited / akg-images. Pages 111 , 115: The Night (c. 1530), Antonio Allegri, called Correggio (c. 1489– 1534), originally from the church of San Prospero in Reggio, oil on poplar, 105 x 74 in., Gemäldegalerie, Old Masters, Dresden. © akg-images / Erich Lessing. Page 113: Nativity at Night (1480–1490), Geertgen tot Sint Jans (1465–1495), oil on oak, 13 x 10 in., National Gallery, London. © National Gallery Global Limited / akg-images. Pages 119, 122: The Adoration of the Shepherds (1609), Caravaggio (c. 1571–1610), oil on canvas, 124 x 83 in., Regional Museum, Messina. © Luciano Pedicini / La Collection. Page 127: The Adoration of the Shepherds (1612–1614), El Greco (1541–1614), originally from the church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo in Toledo, oil on canvas, 126 x 71 in., Prado Museum, Madrid. © Museo Nacional del Prado, Dist. RMN-GP / image du Prado. Pages 133, 134, 136: Adoration of the Shepherds (1638), Francisco de Zurbarán (1598– 1664), oil on canvas, 68 x 102 in., Grenoble Museum. © akg-images / Erich Lessing. Pages 141, 144, 146: Adoration of the Shepherds (1644), Georges de La Tour (1593– 1652), oil on canvas, 42 x 51 in., Louvre Museum, Paris. © akg-images / Erich Lessing. Page 143: Nativity, Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516), oil on panel, 26 x 17 in., WallrafRichartz Museum, Cologne. © akg-images / Album / Prisma. Pages 148-149, 151, 153: Adoration of the Shepherds (1689), Charles Le Brun (1619– 1690), oil on canvas, 60 x 84 in., Louvre Museum, Paris. © akg-images / Erich Lessing. Pages 155, 159: Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1776), Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732– 1806), oil on canvas, 29 x 37 in., Louvre Museum, Paris. © akg-images / Erich Lessing. Pages 161, 163, 164, 165: The Holy Night (1888–1889), triptych, Fritz von Uhde (1848– 1911), oil on canvas, 53 x 46 in., Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden. © akg-images. Page 167: Christmas (1946), Alfred Manessier (1911–1993), oil on canvas, 25.6 x 13 in., private collection, Paris. © Adagp, Paris, 2023, Photo: Jean-Louis Losi / Adagp images. ART CREDITS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzMzNzY=