L’origine de la scène de la nativité dans l’art paléochrétien (d’après les sarcophages d’Occident). Catalogue et interprétation

The article deals with the first representations of Nativity – the Birth of Christ – in Early Christian art. The analysis, consisting of a detailed catalogue of collected examples, covers the period of the 4th century and, as far as it makes use of the existing and published material, is limited to Roman sarcophagi of this period. The fact that the sarcophagi can claim exclusiveness in this respect, highlights some of the issues important for the development of Early Christian art, such as the importance of the city of Rome and the influence of its workshops during the Late Roman empire. The research has led the author to raise once again the often debated issue on parallel development of Christian iconography in painting (catacomb frescoes) and sculpture (sarcophagi reliefs) of the period. It shows namely that no existing examples of the Nativity scene are to be found in the painting of the Roman catacombs and that the rare recorded examples can be conclusively dated to much later periods than the bulk of examples on the sarcophagi. The content of the Nativity scene during this period, starting with the simple presentation of the manger surrounded by shepherds and the two animals, as found on the earliest examples (second quarter of the 4th century), is gradually growing to include other motives taken from the Gospels or apocryphal sources. At the same time, Roman iconographical “formulas” are not to be found in the Eastern provinces where influence from Constantinople is increasingly present. The answer to these differences partly lies in the rapid organisation of the liturgical calendar in Rome (where we officially encounter, for the first time, the feast of the Nativity on December 24 around 330) and its influence on the development of Christian iconography during this period. The research however upholds the importance of “technical” considerations when analysing the origin and use of some of the Biblical motives on the sarcophagi, especially the ones usually destined for the lid area. It is an interesting fact that the entire study should be able to focus on one particular century (4th), one particular production (sarcophagi) and one particular geographical area (the city of Rome). [Author]