ADVENT CALENDAR 2022

" " — Nativity icon made by iconographer Susan Kelly vonMedicus, 2014. Glencairn Museum collection, Bryn Athyn, PA, 12.OP.466. For more about the work of Susan Kelly vonMedicus, see here.

3. ICON OF THE NATIVITY

This Nativity icon in the Byzantine style was painted by Philadelphia-area iconographer Susan Kelly vonMedicus. The iconography of the Nativity in Byzantine art has developed over many centuries. The three-fold mandala in the upper right corner of the icon represents the heavens opening and the Trinity descending. The cave of the Nativity represents the darkness into which Christ, the Light of the World, was born. The Christ Child is wrapped in swaddling cloths resembling burial cloths, and the manger resembles a tomb; these elements prefigure the eventual death and resurrection of Jesus. The mountain represents the spiritual ascent and descent of the Holy Spirit. The rose border with buds represents the beginning of Mary’s love for Christ, and the thorns her sorrows.

VonMedicus creates icons in the traditional manner, using egg tempera and gold leaf on a gessoed panel. Her work is in private and public collections internationally.

Visit us at Follow the Star: A 2022 Advent Calendar.