One year before his death in 1610, Caravaggio completed the last of his great life-sized paintings—a 10-by-7-foot canvas of Christ’s birth. Painted for the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and of the Martyrs in Rome, the “Adoration of the Shepherds” used Caravaggio’s typical combination of exquisite beauty and thorough realism. The artistic decisions to emphasize humility and realism—aspects often ignored by former artists—suited the Capuchin Franciscans who lived in strict poverty.
Elements typical in a nativity scene are almost as well-known as the biblical story itself. Christ is commonly depicted in one of three familiar positions: laying in the manger, being held up for display, or laying on a cloth on the ground. The Virgin Mary is often shown in a prayerful posture, unless she’s displaying her son. Saint Joseph tends to be represented in prayer too, though he’s sometimes watchful. Whether they are marked by the most stylized symbolism, these common features emphasize the extraordinary: that the baby is of unique importance, the son of God.
Caravaggio emphasized the other side of the Christian coin: Christ’s humanity. By becoming man, God the Son joined humans in all the ordinary, unremarkable, and even bland realities of everyday life. Therefore, Caravaggio stressed the portrayal of an ordinary human scene with real poverty, rather than Christ’s hidden divinity.
Mary’s right side leans against the manger while she reclines on the ground. Both her posture and the manner in which she holds the infant Jesus suggests she is resting, as any mother of a newborn might do. The manger is not the iconic free-standing, baby-sized object in the middle of the stable and the room’s natural center of attention. Instead, it’s more realistically fixed to a wall where it is conveniently out of the way and large enough to be shared by two or three animals. Next to it, at the front left, is a workbasket and tools.
Relationships between the figures are also unusual. Instead of displaying her child to the shepherds on her left, Mary continues to hold Jesus in her arms as she did before their arrival. While nothing suggests she is ignoring them, it’s clear that her focus is elsewhere.
The Franciscans Crèche
Artistic depictions of the nativity originated in the 1st century of Christianity. Now displayed at Christmas, nativity sets owe much of their popularity to St. Francis of Assisi—founder of the Order of Friars Minor (colloquially known as Franciscans). In his day, Italy’s religious art had much in common with Byzantine iconography, which focused on symbolism rather than representation.
Symbolism was replete in iconography. An iconographer minimized the individuality of the saint’s facial features while emphasizing symbols of their virtues and ordination. When depicting biblical scenes, the artist tried to symbolize God’s actions rather than invite viewers into the painting.
Francis favored realistic imagining of religious figures and events. Having visited Bethlehem and Jerusalem from 1219–1220, he decided to create a living nativity in 1223 using people dressed in character as biblical figures with live animals. The living nativities and realistic artistic depictions of Christ’s birth soon gained immense popularity and contributed to an increased interest in realism in both religious and secular art.
The Church’s status as the leading patron of the arts and the pervasive influence of the Franciscans throughout the 13th century may even have influenced Giotto’s embrace of naturalistic painting. Born 40 years after Francis died, Giotto’s work was considered by art historian Giorgio Vasari to be a stepping stone towards early Renaissance art.
