‘Et vocavit nomen eius Mariam’. Iconographic Approach to The Birth of Mary in the Spanish Gothic Painting

Abstract

Aside from the endearing anecdotal bias that, at first glance, seems to characterize it, the iconographic theme of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, very popular in Christian Byzantine and European art in Middle Ages, can and should be interpreted according to a higher dimension of doctrinal depth. Relying on a number of passages of prestigious Church Fathers and medieval theologians, this paper seeks to highlight four important dogmatic meanings underlying this iconographic motif: the birth of Mary means, at the same time, the ushering in a perfect and immaculate creature, the pre-announcement of her virgin divine motherhood, the prophetic proclamation of the redemption of mankind, and the and metaphoric suggestion of “sealed up fountain” from which springs the “water of life”. We have applied here this triple hermeneutic reading to a set of Spanish Gothic paintings that illustrate perfectly this theme.