14 December 2009

Global Seminars & Invited Speaker Series

CHRISTMAS IN THE ARTS

Between drama and hope at Christmas time: from Herod's persecution to the Flight into Egypt

Mr. José Javier Azanza López .
Chairof Navarrese Heritage and Art

Herod's order to kill the innocents, one of the most dramatic themes in the history of sacred art, and the flight to Egypt of Mary and Joseph with the Child, open the last period of Christ's childhood. Although the Gospels of Matthew and Luke contain hardly any references to these years, the apocryphal texts and devotional literature abound in episodes that can be grouped into six sequences.

The first of these is Herod's order to slit the throats of the children of Bethlehem under the age of two, and their subsequent execution. In the Middle Ages average, the representations of the slaughter follow an almost unique model: Herod, seated on the throne or from the top of a tribune in his palace, gives the order, which is carried out by the soldiers in his presence, while the mothers try to protect their children. In the Modern Age, Herod gradually loses his prominence until he finally disappears from the scene, which focuses on the actual killing itself, with greater or lesser Degreecruelty.
 

"Slaughter of the Innocents. 18th century. Pamplona. Cathedral. conference roomChapterhouse
 

Secondly, the angel's apparition to Joseph, topicknown as Joseph's Second Dream, in which the angel awakens Joseph in the middle of the night and urges him to leave for Egypt in order to escape the horrible slaughter ordered by Herod. By rule, artists generally depict Joseph lying or sitting, sleeping with his head resting on his own hand or on a staff, while the angel, emerging from a cloud, speaks to him from above.

It follows the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, which is based on certain essential elements: Mary, with the Child in her arms, rides on a donkey led by Joseph, in his role as protector of the Holy Family; they are often accompanied by an angel who accompanies them guideand samplealong the way, while occasionally taking on other roles such as cook, boatman or musician. Less common is the presence of a woman who, according to the Apocryphal Gospels, we should identify with Salome, the unbelieving midwife, who followed them on the journey to Egypt, as well as one or more young men who accompany the Holy Family, who again according to the Apocrypha could be James the Less, the future apostle and presumed cousin of Jesus, or the children of a previous marriage of Joseph, who had been widowed before his betrothal to Mary.

"Flight into Egypt". Pedro de Aponte. High Altarpiece of Santa María de Olite. 16th century
 

Mary's fatigue from the journey forces her to rest, which provides a new scene with numerous representations in the history of art. There is also no shortage of miraculous events that occurred during the course of the journey, some of which reached a certain iconographic dissemination, such as the miracle of the palm tree - recounted in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew -, the miracle of the wheat, and the miracle of the fallen idols.

Finally, after the arrival in Egypt, the iconographic sources are divided into two main groups: on the one hand there are the scenes that continue to narrate the miracles of the Child; and on the other, the images that show a traditional family in which the Virgin, like any mother, takes care of the Infant Jesus: she feeds him, teaches him to walk, to read and write, participates in his games, and even makes his clothes, tasks in which she is often helped by the angels. The subsequent return of the Holy Family to Nazareth differs from the scene of the flight because the Child sampleis older and no longer travels in his mother's arms, but walks on foot, holding hands with Mary and Joseph.

Navarrese art has representations of most of the scenes described above. The capitals of Santa María in Sangüesa, San Pedro de la Rúa in Estella, and the Magdalena in Tudela; the doorways of San Miguel in Estella and Santa María in Olite; and the main altarpieces of Tudela Cathedral, Ororbia, Valtierra, Desojo, Ilundain, Abárzuza, Villanueva de Yerri, Santa María de Tafalla and Santa María de Olite, as well as other altarpieces such as those of Santiago de Viana and Santa Catalina in Pamplona Cathedral. They also feature in numerous pictorial works in parish churches, hermitages and convent cloisters, and can be found forming part of the iconographic programme of pieces of goldsmith's work and liturgical ornaments.