THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY IN BETHLEHEM
Dr G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville
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Shrine and Scandal
Early Christian Period to 529
Early Christian Period
post 529
Crusader Period
The Grotto
Present Condition
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The Crusader Period
| Under Crusader rule in the 12th century, the church was comprehensively redecorated and this scheme partly survives. The interior walls were covered with new mosaics. On the south side were depicted the seven General Councils of the Church, while on the north were the Six Provincial Councils of the Greeks. The theme emphasises the fundamental agreement on dogma between the Greek and Latin churches. On the west wall, a Tree of Jesse showed all the prophets who spoke of the coming of the Messiah, including the pagan Roman Sibyl and Balaam’s ass. The mosaics in the eastern end of the church were devoted to scenes from the New Testament. Now, only portions of the wall mosaics survive. Their partial decay was probably due to a defective roof. Thanks to the careful records made by scholars since the 18th century, it would be possible to restore most of these mosaics. | |
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| The paintings on pillars in the
Church of the Nativity, which also date from the 12th century,
constitute a unique assembly of Crusader painting.
They are the work of a school of painters rather than a single
artist and they depict members of earthly church hierarchy (bishops and
deacons), laity (soldier saints, kings, monks and nuns) and heavenly
hierarchy (Prophets, Apostles, the Virgin Mary, St. Anne and a
Crucifixion). Among the
sanctified monarchs depicted are Olaf of Norway and Canute of Denmark and
England.
The church possesses an elegant medieval cloister, which was restored in 1948-49 by Antonio Barluzzi, the architect responsible for the Church of All Nations in Gethsemane and that of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. |
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