Advent through Art, Cosmic and Mystical

Here is the awaited painting Mystic Nativity, by Sandro Botticelli, 1500. This is obviously not your stereotypical nativity scene. This painting reminds me that the gift of Christ is a cosmic and mystical event. Here is why…

Christ, A Cosmic Gift.

You have probably heard John 3:16 rattled off a hundred times. “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whosover…” Did you know that the word for ‘world’ here is the greek word ‘cosmos’? It is the root for our word ‘cosmology.’ It can be interpretted in a variety of ways but often refers to the totality of creation. This painting and that word remind me that redemption isn’t just about me. All of creation was broken in the Fall and God’s plan and intent is to redeem his broken creation. We get that sense when we scripture speaks about God creating a new heaven and a new earth or of God make all things new.

I think of this as I look at this painting because in it the very heavens are opened up and rejoicing over the birth of Christ. That what’s going on at the top of the painting. Twelve angels are swirling about an opening into the heavens. The glimpse into heaven reminds me that the gift of Christ is so much bigger than I tend to recognize.

Christ, A mystical gift.

Botticelli overlays physical and spiritual reality in his painting. We have an earthly scene of Christ’s birth, but on top of it are images of angels dancing and if you look really close you will see seven strange creatures at the bottom of the painting around the feet of the three angels embracing men. Those weird little creatures are demonic figures fleeing, some so quickly they impale themselves on their weapons. Botticelli was visually capturing the spiritual drama invisibly unfolding around a historic event. The birth of Christ means the beginning of the end of evil.

Incidentally, the three men being embraced by the angels are thought by some to be three men who were executed for their faith two years prior to the painting. Symbolically, this image represents the redemption of the faithful. In renaissance painting juxtaposing images of the conquering of evil alongside the redemption of people was a common motif in second coming paintings. By using this motif in a nativity painting Botticelli reminds us that Christ will come again. He beautifully and subtly conveys the advent message, Christ has come and will come again. His inclusion of this second coming theme isn’t surprising if you understand that Botticelli lived in tumultuous times and believed himself to be living in the time of tribulation.

Botticelli incorporates many other symbols in the Mystic Nativity. For example, a cave is used to represent the manger and foreshadows the tomb. Mary and Jesus are physically larger than life to emphasize their importance. The ox and ass in the manger are a huge symbol that I will unpack in another post. Crowns, banners and a host of other little meaningful details populate the painting. The vast array of symbolic imagery further reminds me that the nativity is mystical. It is loaded with mystery and my mind can hardly grasp the massive implications of God becoming one of us.

Coming Attraction

We are going to explore the complete opposite end of the spectrum in the next artwork. We will look at an extremely simple sculpture of Mary and Jesus by the renaissance painter and sculptor Ghiberti. It reminds us that the gift of Christ is not only a cosmic event, but also a very personal event.

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