The Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi

13th/14th centuries
Fresco
Parish church of Mariapfarr, Austria

This image uses the iconography traditional in the centuries that preceded Bridget of Sweden's vision in 1373. Mary lies below the child, who is approached in his manger by the ox and the ass while St. Joseph puts one hand to his cheek. The announcing angel fills the pseudo-tympanum, but the shepherds who heard the announcement are not in evidence. Perhaps they were represented on the now-lost left side of the fresco. The right side appears to be a traditional Adoration of the Magi, with the Christ Child on his mother's lap reaching out as if to accept a gift or welcome someone.

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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.