Consider using this Nativity scene to awaken adults or children to an appreciation this year of a Eucharistic Christmas. This work of art is obviously about the Incarnation but it is also wonderfully Eucharistic; like the 4th century Greek hymn at the end of this article, which is also about Christmas and about the Mass at the same time.
The first thing to remember is that this painting is an altar-piece. The altar would have been directly in front of this painting. It has been chosen to illustrate what happens at Mass. It is hard to know where to start in our exploration of the painting, so rich is the Catholic imagery.
Let us also look at this picture in the way the Compendium intends us to see it, as a ‘profession of faith’. This is the title of the whole of Part One of the Compendium and this painting, centred on Christ, encapsulates it all.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Gentile_da_Fabriano_A...
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