Jacopo Torriti, The Nativity

13th century
Mosaic
Apse, Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

Reworking the image type traditional in Byzantine art, where the mother and child are recumbent, parallel, and separate from each other, Torriti makes the theologically important adaptation of picturing the manger as an altar in a church, and thus relating the child to the "body of Christ" that is sacrificed in the Eucharist. The two beasts thus represent the faithful, and Mary's placing the child on the "altar" expresses her agency in the plan of salvation.

By the 13th century most Nativity images in the West no longer included the midwives, and this mosaic is no exception. But in other respects the artist follows the ancient tradition. The central figures are in a cave, Mary is recumbent, Joseph has his hand on his head, and in the backgrouind the shepherds are getting the news from the angel.

View this image in full resolution.
View the whole apse.
Read more about the Nativity.

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