Nativity
Roundel
ca. 1520 (made)
ca. 1520 (made)
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This roundel depicts the Virgin Mary and St Joseph kneeling in devotion before the infant Jesus Christ. The whole image presents a complex iconography with various familiar elements. The Virgin kneeling in prayer before the Christ Child with animals in the background illustrates the devotional image of the birth of Jesus Christ (the Nativity). This image is enhanced by the presence of the shepherds in the background, presenting a version of the 'Adoration of the Shepherds'. One of these shepherds plays a simple 'chorus' bagpipe. A herdsman had all the necessary materials at hand to make a bagpipe: a goat or sheep skin and a reed pipe. Its form has changed over the centuries, but it seems that the early medieval bagpipe consisted only of a bag and a chanter (the pipe on which the melody is played). Perhaps about 1300 a single drone (a pipe that produces a tone) was added; another was added about 1400 and a third came in after 1550. The droneless bagpipe is sometimes called a 'chorus' or a 'chanter bagpipe'.
The presence of Joseph holding a candle is a direct reference to the event of the 'Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple'. Forty days after giving birth, the mother was required by law to present her firstborn son to the high priest of the temple. By the end of the Middle Ages, the aged pious Simeon had come to be represented as this high priest. God had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Upon seeing the infant Christ in the temple,.Simon declared him to be: 'A light to the revelation of the gentiles: and the glory of thy people Israel' (the Nunc Dimittus or Song of Simeon). This event is celebrated as 'Candlemas' in England and the 'Feast of the Purification of the Virgin' in other countries.
A crumbling architectural setting has been interpreted as the collapse of the old law with the coming of the new law in the birth of Jesus Christ.
There are three other roundels with the same image - in Leuven, Brussels and one in an English church. The design source for these has not yet been identified
The presence of Joseph holding a candle is a direct reference to the event of the 'Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple'. Forty days after giving birth, the mother was required by law to present her firstborn son to the high priest of the temple. By the end of the Middle Ages, the aged pious Simeon had come to be represented as this high priest. God had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Upon seeing the infant Christ in the temple,.Simon declared him to be: 'A light to the revelation of the gentiles: and the glory of thy people Israel' (the Nunc Dimittus or Song of Simeon). This event is celebrated as 'Candlemas' in England and the 'Feast of the Purification of the Virgin' in other countries.
A crumbling architectural setting has been interpreted as the collapse of the old law with the coming of the new law in the birth of Jesus Christ.
There are three other roundels with the same image - in Leuven, Brussels and one in an English church. The design source for these has not yet been identified
Object details
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| Materials and techniques | Clear glass painted with brown/black pigment and silver (yellow) stain |
| Brief description | Clear glass painted with brown/black pigment and silver (yellow) stain. Depicting the Nativity of Jesus Christ. Flanders (Leuven), ca. 1520 |
| Physical description | In the front centre of the roundel, the infant Christ, surrounded by rays, lies on the floor within an oval structure. On the left, as you face it, the Virgin Mary kneels in prayer before Him. On the right, Joseph, dressed in a white gown and not bearing a halo, kneels towards the Christ Child and holds a candle. These figures are placed in front of the remains of a colonnaded structure. In the foreground and in the back to the right, columns are shown broken. In front of Joseph lies a bundle of hay. Two shepherds gaze over a broken wall into the centre. One of the shepherds plays a type of bagpipe depicted known as a 'chorus'. This simpler form was suited for use by a shepherd, and was probably used in the countryside well into the modern period. To the left are two animals only one of which is identifiable as a ram. |
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| Credit line | Bought from the Soulanges collection |
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| Summary | This roundel depicts the Virgin Mary and St Joseph kneeling in devotion before the infant Jesus Christ. The whole image presents a complex iconography with various familiar elements. The Virgin kneeling in prayer before the Christ Child with animals in the background illustrates the devotional image of the birth of Jesus Christ (the Nativity). This image is enhanced by the presence of the shepherds in the background, presenting a version of the 'Adoration of the Shepherds'. One of these shepherds plays a simple 'chorus' bagpipe. A herdsman had all the necessary materials at hand to make a bagpipe: a goat or sheep skin and a reed pipe. Its form has changed over the centuries, but it seems that the early medieval bagpipe consisted only of a bag and a chanter (the pipe on which the melody is played). Perhaps about 1300 a single drone (a pipe that produces a tone) was added; another was added about 1400 and a third came in after 1550. The droneless bagpipe is sometimes called a 'chorus' or a 'chanter bagpipe'. The presence of Joseph holding a candle is a direct reference to the event of the 'Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple'. Forty days after giving birth, the mother was required by law to present her firstborn son to the high priest of the temple. By the end of the Middle Ages, the aged pious Simeon had come to be represented as this high priest. God had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Upon seeing the infant Christ in the temple,.Simon declared him to be: 'A light to the revelation of the gentiles: and the glory of thy people Israel' (the Nunc Dimittus or Song of Simeon). This event is celebrated as 'Candlemas' in England and the 'Feast of the Purification of the Virgin' in other countries. A crumbling architectural setting has been interpreted as the collapse of the old law with the coming of the new law in the birth of Jesus Christ. There are three other roundels with the same image - in Leuven, Brussels and one in an English church. The design source for these has not yet been identified |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 5655-1859 |
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| Record created | June 16, 1999 |
| Record URL |
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