Picturing Christ’s childhood: Some examples of a rare iconographic theme inspired by the infancy gospels

Abstract

This article examines Byzantine wall paintings dated to the thirteenth and fourteenth century depicting a rare iconographic theme of Jesus’s childhood inspired by the Infancy Gospels. The iconography shows the Virgin Mary leading the child Jesus by the hand. The child is depicted holding different objects, such as a writing tablet, an unfurled scroll, or a wicker basket filled with flowers or fruits. Several of the scenes under examination have been hitherto misidentified or altogether unknown. In addition to this, the article interprets these representations in a broader iconographic context and addresses the possible origin of the theme.

Keywords

• Child Christ
• Virgin Mary
• Infancy Gospels
• Byzantine Art
• Western Medieval Art
• Schooling
• St. John the Baptist
• Crete
• Greece
• writing tablets
• wicker basket
• thirteenth and fourteenth century