Paintings

Abstract

The historical Christmas story begins with the Incarnation of Christ in Nazareth and concludes with the return of the Holy Family to Galilee. This chapter focuses upon twelve select paintings from the Renaissance to the Baroque period which illustrate the events recorded in Gospel and Apocryphal narrative accounts. Included in the iconographical analysis of art is a consideration of the ‘journey’ theme, which runs as a refrain through Jesus’s life. So many individuals travel home during the Yuletide season to be with family and friends. It is worthwhile during such a joyful time of the year to recollect the itinerary taken centuries ago by the Christ Child, Mary, and Joseph from their homeland and back.