The Angels Sang Peace

"Representing the event of the birth of Jesus is equivalent to announcing the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God with simplicity and joy." As Pope Francis recalls, the birth of Jesus has inspired generations of artists who, over the centuries, have evangelized through beauty. To experience the Christmas season, the Vatican Museums and Vatican News propose a masterpiece from the pontifical collections accompanied by the words of the Popes.

Bartolo di Fredi (Siena, circa 1352 - 1410) and workshop, Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds, circa 1385. Tempera and gold on panel, Polyptych compartment, ©Vatican Museums

Eight centuries ago, in Greccio, St. Francis of Assisi expressed the desire to represent the mystery of the Incarnation of the Lord "and somehow see with the eyes of the body the difficulties in which He found Himself due to the lack of things necessary for a newborn, as He was laid in a manger and how He lay on the hay between the ox and the donkey" (Franciscan Sources XXX, 468). The impact was significant, as well as the number of artists who tackled the representation of Christmas in the following centuries, in an incredible richness and vivacity of solutions. Not infrequently, the scene also included the episode of the Annunciation to the shepherds or the Adoration of the shepherds, as appreciated in this polyptych compartment, created by the workshop of Bartolo di Fredi around 1385.

“Beside the crib of the Newborn Child, the Son of God made man, every person walking down here reflects with open and sincere conscience that at the supreme threshold, he will be asked for a strict account of the gift of life; and this will have a definitive sanction of merit or punishment. Hence, from the awareness of this accountability, the participation of Christians, and of all people, is measured in the great mystery that we commemorate on this night; from here comes the hope, that from the light of the Word of God, human civilizations may receive the spark that can bring them to a brighter radiance, for the benefit of the peoples. Around the crib of Jesus, His Angels sang peace. And those who believed in the heavenly message and honored it received glory and joy. So it was yesterday; as it will always be in the centuries. The story of Jesus is eternal. Blessed is the one who understands it and draws grace, strength, and blessing from it.”

(John XXIIII – 24 December 1962)

Curated by Paolo Ondarza

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