Rummaging through the greeting-card selection at most shops will provide many messages of seasonal good cheer, usually involving snow, reindeers and men in red.
Lucien De Guise writing in The Straits Times: The religious aspect is more elusive. Scenes of the infant Jesus, his mother and the traditional diversity of onlookers are almost non-existent. Once upon a time they were unavoidable anywhere that celebrated Christmas, but the showing these days is negligible.
To some extent this situation is a reversion to the original card concept of the mid-19th Century. The world’s first Christmas card was printed in England in 1843: The theme was general merriment and alcohol consumption rather than Christian devotion. Giving a true Victorian English flavour was the presence of an underage drinker in the picture.
A more religious approach was adopted in the late 19th Century, which is a very long time after the big event happened in Bethlehem. The concept of cards, of course, arrived fairly late, with the invention of a postal service. Even so, it took centuries for the Nativity to be really popularised by artists. The man responsible was St Francis — not the St Francis so closely associated with Petaling Jaya, but rather the one bearing the name of Assisi in Italy.
St Francis’s aim was to transform this celebration from something resembling a Roman rave party into something closer to the Church of Rome. The scene of poverty-stricken parents in a stable has become such a cliche that it is easy to forget what a touching situation it must have seemed when the concept was fresher. Childbirth is now so clinical and comparatively safe and clean, the misery of a farmyard maternity centre cannot be contemplated.
Few religions have ever struck such a rich seam of humility. Artists, however, tend to have seen the Nativity differently. Rarely is the stable shown as filthy and vermin infested. Nor is there any of that 21st Century wonderment at the beauty of childbirth with parents beaming at the iPhone as the magic moment is videoed. In old Nativity paintings, visitors never seem to be asking whether the baby looks more like his mum or his dad.
Artists have preferred to show Jesus’ arrival as something alien. Symbolism is everywhere. The effect is usually theatrical and often stretches credibility to the limit. Giotto, the founder of Italian Renaissance painting, went so far as to depict St Francis, who lived thirteen hundred years later, holding the baby.
While most medieval Nativity scenes have a show-like feel to them, in the Reniassance period another strand emerged. Artists like Leonardo Da Vinci and Mantegna, who looked back to classical paganism with affection, were obviously aware that the birth of Christianity and the age of faith spelt the end of the original age of reason and scientific enquiry. The ruins of antiquity were all around. Other artists had a different message. All early paintings had some sort of message, and those placed in churches were especially useful for bringing illumination to the illiterate masses.
The intention of Nativity scenes was generally no more than to emphasise the tenderness of which Christianity could often be rather short.
There was also an element of ostentation. Rivalry between different communities might be expressed in having a bigger and better crib or Nativity painting. It was often thought to be doing the Holy Family a disservice by having them dressed in the rags that fit in with the Christmas story. Affluent audiences preferred to see their spiritual leaders looking a little more like themselves. So, silken robes and artfully distressed palaces took the place of hovels and patched garments.
The presence of the Magi gave showy artists the best opportunity of all to incorporate some real Renaissance finery. Inserting their patrons into the picture was another common practice, and what better place to put them than as one of the three Wise Men bringing fabulous gifts? Ethnic distinctions were generally a low priority. While the gospel of St Matthew states that they were from the Orient, the Magi mostly look like they came from further west than that.
Occasionally, West Africa seems to have been the inspiration, providing some lively colour contrast with the other pasty members of the delegation. Few artists in Asia have taken up the challenge, although Japan and the Philippines have some noteworthy Nativity scenes.
After 600 years of these works, artists moved on. In the 20th Century, it was left mainly to iconoclasts such as Salvador Dali to re-interpret the genre. Remarkably few modern artists have turned their brushes to Christ’s first moments.
When they do, it is likely to cause outrage as with Chris Ofili’s view of the Virgin Mary created from dung.
Collectors who are looking to liven up their homes with something more than a mere card will have to pay for it. Most important Nativity scenes are in public collections, leaving the remainder to fetch millions, on occasion. Although religious paintings have not been fashionable since Victorian times, Nativity scenes do at least look friendlier than the countless martyrdoms that southern European painters specialised in. After being confronted with decapitations, massacres and crucifixions, it is a blessed relief to gaze upon the gentleness of the Christmas message.
By Lucien De Guise, New Straits Times