The Icon of the Nativity
For our podcast episode on the icon of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we’ve posted a few icons so that we can all see the same examples!
We don’t own the copyright to these images, but found them online.
If you would like to have a copy of any of these icons for your home, simply click on the image and you’ll be carried to the store where the icon is available for sale.
Some Free Resources:
For a Nativity icon you can color, you’ll find some of Fr. John Matusiak’s beautiful line drawings on the OCA website.
Older kids might enjoy this informative color printable by Fr. Ayman Kfouf, available on the Antiochian archdiocese website.
In this first icon, we can see the classic elements of the Nativity story. Joseph and Mary attend to Jesus, Who lies in the manger (which looks a lot like a coffin, because He is born to die, and then to defeat death by His death!) We can see the ox and the donkey (from Isaiah’s prophecy), and the angel as he announces the birth of our Lord to the shepherd. The magi are on their way to honor the newborn King.
In the top center, is a blue shape that is sometimes called a mandorla. Whenever you see this blue shape (which can look like lines and a circle, or sometimes like an almond), that means that the iconographer is showing you something that cannot really be seen: the mandorla signifies the presence and the glory of God. In this icon, it’s like a light beaming down from the heavens, pointing to the Christ child, showing that He came down from heaven to the earth.
This icon is available from the Ancient Faith Store.
This icon includes all of the same elements, but adds more. Now Joseph sits to the side, struggling with doubt. Now we see two shepherds hearing the news, and more angels are on the scene to glorify our Lord -- and you'll find that now there is an angel guiding the magi.
This icon is available at the store for Mt. Athos Monastery products, Monastiriaka.
This beautiful icon has most of the elements we have seen, but includes more of the story: the midwife is giving baby Jesus His first bath, and the devil is tempting Joseph.
This icon is available at Legacy Icons.
This icon tells even more of the story! Before, the icons have all shown us the birth of Jesus in the cave, inside the jagged mountains. This icon continues the story after they leave the cave. Here, the magi are not still traveling, but have arrived to see Christ. He is no longer in the cave, but is not inside a building with His mother, the Theotokos. Then in the lower right, we find the Flight to Egypt, as Joseph and Mary hurry away to Egypt to protect baby Jesus from Herod's terrible slaughter.
This icon is available at Legacy Icons.