Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Title: Nativity and First Bath of the Christ Child
Creator:
Description: The scenes depict the Nativity and first bath of the infant Christ. In the center the Virgin embraces the swaddled Christ. Behind them the three magi appear on horses. St. Joseph sits on the left and an angel on the right gestures toward Christ and Mary. In front of them a servant girl pours water for the Christ Child's first bath into a basin evocative of a baptismal font. Another midwife holds the Child on her knees and tests the temperature of the water with her hand. The iconographic source for this scene is the birth scene that appears at the beginning of an illustrated life cycle in Hellenistic and Roman art.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Rights: Public Domain
Subject (See Also): Baptisms Bathing Childbirth Jesus Christ- Infancy Mary, Virgin, Saint Nativity Midwives
Geographic Area: Italy
Century: 12
Date: ca. 1140-1170
Related Work: See a detail of the infant Christ's bath: http://worldimages.sjsu.edu/VieO12392?sid=122517&x=15361367&port=1000
Current Location: Palermo, Sicily, Cappella Palatina, east wall, south end
Original Location: Palermo, Sicily, Cappella Palatina, east wall, south end
Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Mosaics
Artistic Type (Material/Technique):
Donor: Layman; Roger II, King of Sicily or William I, King of Sicily
Height/Width/Length(cm): //
Inscription:
Related Resources: