Thursday, December 22, 2011

Nativity - Assisi


Tucked away obscurely in a dark corner of the left transept in the basilica of Santa Chiara in Assisi is one of the most touching mediaeval portrayals of the Nativity I have ever seen. When I first saw it nearly 15 years ago, it was almost hidden behind a pile of stacking chairs and I had to crane my neck to see it properly. Despite this I fell in love immediately with this exquisite fragment of fresco, which has almost miraculously survived at least 700 years of neglect and earthquake damage.

To my frustration, when DD and I made our Big Birthday trip to Assisi in May, we found that the apse and transept have now been cordoned off and visitors can no longer get close enough to the fresco to appreciate its beauty. So, as my Christmas present to you all, here is the wonderful image of the Madonna and Child with angels by an unknown but gifted student of the great fresco painter Giotto.

It comes with my thanks for your friendship and company on this deeply enjoyable blogging journey. I wish you all a peaceful and joyous Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year.

To accompany my touching mediaeval image, I would like to leave you with this lovely rendering of one of the most beautiful and touching of mediaeval carols.


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31 comments:

  1. the fly in the web22 December 2011 at 13:48

    Thank you for a wonderful set off for Christmas...both fresco and carol.
    Wishing you peace, happiness and good health for Christmas and the coming year.

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  2. Penelopepiscopal22 December 2011 at 14:27

    What a beautiful scene! Thank you for sharing it. I am a fan of the Mediaeval Baebes myself (some of their music will show up on my blog during the 12 Days) - beautiful combination.

    Best wishes for Christmas to you! I've so enjoyed our virtual friendship this year.

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  3. Anonymous22 December 2011 at 15:04

    What gifts you bring to your readers; music and frescos and your gift of words. Thank you so much, Perpetua.

    This is a carol I never tire of hearing. The Madrigal singers from the local high school performed this for our members a few weeks ago at our holiday luncheon. It was so beautiful, as is this rendition.

    Joy, peace, and a merry Christmas to you.

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  4. Kathy22 December 2011 at 15:18

    Thank you, Fly, Penny and Penny. :-) So glad you enjoyed it.

    We're heading north tomorrow with DH's mother to spend Christmas with DD and her family, so I wanted to get my Christmas greetings out before we leave. With the two older grandsons at a fever-pitch of excitement, there won't be chance once we're there......

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  5. Jean22 December 2011 at 16:41

    Thank you for a lovely post. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family.

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  6. Dr. Kathy McCoy22 December 2011 at 16:54

    Thanks so much, Perpetua, both for your beautiful online gift this morning and for your continuing friendship across the miles! May you and your family have a truly blessed Christmas!

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  7. Rubye Jack22 December 2011 at 17:03

    The Coventry Carol is simply beautiful and a great contrast to all the jingle bell stuff floating about. And, what a wonderfully pretty fresco with all the blue and yellow. Thank you.

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  8. Kathy22 December 2011 at 17:09

    Thank you, Jean and Kathy. It's good to share one's own favourites.

    We always have great fun with the family, especially as the boys are big fans of board games rather than TV. This means we have some very enjoyable afternoons of play and certainly gives my brain cells plenty of exercise.

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  9. Kathy22 December 2011 at 17:14

    So glad you liked them, Rubye. You can probably guess that I love mediaeval art and music. If you enjoyed the Coventry Carol, you could look for more by the Mediaeval Baebes on YouTube, as this is the kind of music they always sing.

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  10. Christine McIntosh22 December 2011 at 17:21

    One of my favourite carols! So glad to have met up with you online this year - and the contacts you put my way also. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family, and that you hear some lovely music as well.

    Think of us singing in our chilly/beautiful/soaking church at midnight - think we're doing Tavener's The Lamb, inter alia.

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  11. Nancy Wallace22 December 2011 at 18:12

    Beautiful - thank you so much. Is that sheep's wool that Mary is sitting on? The expression on her face is full of love and wonder. Have a peaceful and joyful Christmas with wonder and fun!

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  12. Kathy22 December 2011 at 18:13

    Mine too, Christine, and I love this pared-down version. Very glad to have met you too and to have the chance to appreciate your wonderful poetry. Your husband's music is a great bonus.

    I don't what I'll be hearing this Christmas. DD's village church choir have a new organist / choirmaster, who has really been stretching them. I'm agog... I'm sure your congregation will have a real treat.

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  13. Kathy22 December 2011 at 18:35

    Thank you, Nancy. Very glad you like it. I've just been back to my photo file look at the original image (a scan of a postcard, so too big to upload here without shrinking) and she is sitting on a mattress, with what looks like a woollen cover. Yes, the expression is beautiful and I love the fact that the baby is baby-size.

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  14. ArtyZen22 December 2011 at 23:07

    Hope I'm not too late to wish you a Very Happy Christmas, Perpetua, and thank you for this lovely post. I was enchanted by Assisi many years ago and this fresco captures the same innocence, purity, pleasure and joy that seem to be embedded in the place.
    It has been a delight to meet you this year and I so look forward to reading your blog in 2012. Thank you so much for the comments you leave me on my own blog as I do so look forward to reading them.
    Axxx

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  15. Kathy23 December 2011 at 08:41

    You just caught me, Annie. :-) We leave later this morning. So glad you liked "my" lovely fresco. I feel positively proprietorial about it, as very few people seemed to find it when I was there. The music just seemed meant to go with it.

    Yours was one of he first blogs I started to follow (I found you through a comment on Ayak's blog) and I bless the day. Have a wonderful Christmas with all your family round you.

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  16. chaplain.cz23 December 2011 at 09:20

    Thank you Perpetua for both the wonderful fresco & the slightly unusual but very beautiful rendering of 'The Coventry Carol'. I have a particular love of the carol as it originates from the city of my birth. It is the most well known part of a series of Medieval Mystery Plays of which sadly, only two are now extant.

    Christmas greetings from Prague to you & DH, a city beautifully decorated for Christmas with trees & lights in every square yet today with a somber atmosphere as the state funeral of Václav Havel takes place.

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  17. Kathy23 December 2011 at 10:20

    You're very welcome, Ricky. I didn't realise you came from Coventry. :-) I believe the Mediaeval Baebes try to render their songs in the way it is believed they would have been sung at the time when they were written.

    I can well imagine how beautiful Prague looks with its Christmas decorations. I do hope you plan to show us all on your blog. It's a pity the celebrations have been overshadowed by Havel's death.

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  18. PolkaDot23 December 2011 at 11:43

    Hope you have a good journey 'up north' and greetings to DN & family.

    I also liked the obscure fragments of older frescoes in Assisi. What a lovely expression of Mary gazing transfixed at her baby's face.

    Thanks also for the lovely Carol.

    Looking forward to seeing you & your DH early in the New Year

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  19. Kathy23 December 2011 at 16:50

    Thanks, PolkaDot. The frescoes are wonderful andthe little hidden bits make you feelyou've just discovered them.

    It rained all the way, but we made good time and I've just been helping Grandson #2 finish decoratingthe tree.:-)

    Have a lovely Christmas and seeyou in the New Year.

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  20. Anonymous23 December 2011 at 23:16

    An absolutely delightful fresco. I love the smiles of the ox and the ass.

    I have so enjoyed getting to know you a little this year through your blog and through your wise and kind comments on mine and others. May you and yours have a happy and peaceful Christmas.

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  21. Kathy24 December 2011 at 10:51

    Isn't it beautiful, DB? Very much one to share as widely as possible.

    The enjoyment is mutual. Your blog is wonderful and getting to know you and others this way has been a true highlight of 2011. I look forward so much to more of the same in 2012.

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  22. Niall & Antoinette24 December 2011 at 14:20

    Best wishes this Christmas :-) Thanks for the lovely Fresco [I was lucky enough to see it too when I visited years ago]and excellent carol.

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  23. Kathy24 December 2011 at 16:56

    Thanks you, Antoinette and Niall. I'm glad you enjoyed them. I think we who have managed to see the fresco at close quarters should count ourselves lucky. I so wanted to show my daughter this year and couldn't. Sigh...

    Joyeux Noel!

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  24. The bike shed25 December 2011 at 22:38

    Just dropping by to say Merry Christmas. I've been away this month (needed a blogging break) but normal service to resume in January. Thanks for following and commenting so regularly this year.

    Hope your Christmas is all you wished for.

    Mark

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  25. Kathy26 December 2011 at 10:51

    Thank you, Mark and the same to you and your family. We had a very enjoyable Christmas Day and today is the customary Boxing Day afternoon of board games with the grandsons. :-)

    Looking forward to seeing your blog pop up soon in my reader. Happy New Year.

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  26. Harriet26 December 2011 at 18:17

    What a delightful picture. I hope you had a very Happy Christmas

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  27. Kathy27 December 2011 at 16:24

    Glad you like it, Harriet. I had a lovely Christmas, thank you, and hope you and The Curate did too. Happy New Year to you both.

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  28. Sian28 December 2011 at 14:11

    I've been getting very behind in my blog reading, not to mention commenting! But just wanted to say I thoroughly enjoy your blog. Although I don't share the religious beliefs around Christmas I do enjoy the "traditions and rituals" that bring us together. Thank you for sharing your lead up to Christmas. Glad you had a good time and look forward to reading more in the new year! (And maybe meeting up in 2012 too??!)

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  29. Kathy28 December 2011 at 17:09

    Sian, you have the very real excuse of pressure of work and even of power and internet problems, so it's good to know you've had a chance to catch up with my blog and have enjoyed it. I do hope you had a lovely Christmas too and I wish you a very happy New Year. I do hope we can manage to get across to meet you.

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  30. nerima roberts29 December 2011 at 01:09

    Hello, this is my first time here. What a cool blog. I see you were a librarian. I am a school librarian, and am counting down to my own retirement June 2014!
    The Coventry Carol is just fab!

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  31. Kathy29 December 2011 at 13:08

    Hello Nerima and welcome. Glad you've enjoyed what you've seen so far. The Coventry carol is truly wonderful.

    I started my career as a school librarian, but moved across into the main public library quite soon and spent my remaining 23 years in librarianship there. I then had a second career in the Anglican ministry, but once a librarian, always a librarian. :-)

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I welcome your comments and will always try to respond to them. Thank you for reading.

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