THE GRAPHIC SIGNS IN THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY IN BETHLEHEM DURING THE MIDDLE AGES (original) (raw)

First issue of the new series: CONVIVIA publihed by Convivium & Viella Editorial board: Hans Belting, Klára Benešovská, Ivan Foletti (dir.), Herbert Kessler, Serena Romano, Elisabetta Scirocco Each book of the serie, will be created by a different young artist designer - the first issue was conceived by Anna Kelblová --- The present work is the first monographic book published in English, since 1910, on the history of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem. In comparison to other Holy Land monuments, the latter underwent relatively minor alterations in the course of time: spared from the destructions that affected other holy sites, such as the Holy Sepulchre, the basilica at Bethlehem stands out for its still well preserved architecture, dating from the late 6th century, and its exuberant mosaic décors completed in 1169, in the period of Crusader rule in Palestine. This book offers a general description of the vicissitudes of the holy site since its very beginnings in Late Antiquity until the present times, with a special focus on the ways in which the complex relationship between the underground holy site, the Nativity cave housing the very spot of Christ’s birthplace and the manger, and the sumptuously decorated upper church came to be variously negotiated in the course of time by means of different forms of mise-en- scène. The book is accompanied by a rich apparatus of colour illustrations, plans, and a bibliographic annex.

The group of graffiti with early Christian symbols, incised on wall plaster, discovered in a sealed context of the 363 CE destruction layer of the Late Roman mansion in Jerusalem.

The team has considered the special status of the Basilica of Bethlehem, which is not just a monument of outstanding historic and artistic importance, but also and fundamentally a holy place, that has long been and is still perceived as a memorial site, marking the place of Christ’s birth and transcribing into a sacred topography the main events of the Gospel narratives. Because of such a peculiarity, the team considered that it was indispensable to analyze the Basilica of Bethlehem from different viewpoints, namely those of archaeological and historical research. The historical approach aims at understanding the centuries-old development of the holy site as a ritual space and the materialized expression of holiness, the ways in which it has been perceived and used, and the messages that it was meant to convey to its beholders. It combines the findings of previous archaeological research with the data provided by the analysis of written evidence, including old textual sources about the Basilica (especially chronicles and pilgrims’accounts). For the archaeological study of the Basilica of the Nativity, we used the methodology of its investigation of the Archeology of Architecture. Stratigraphical analysis was carried out in relation to various portions of the church walls, as well as in relation to the buildings that make up the whole complex, in order to understand the dynamics of major changes in the structure in its entirety.

Graffiti is an art created to challenge all the norms that societies forced themselves into, it was and still is considered a revolution on the acceptable standards of each community as some people see graffiti as vandalism, and others see it as a brilliant art that documents and captures the essence of true opinions and life of every day to day people. Whether we agree or disagree on this topic, we can not deny that graffiti represents a very important part and mark in some cities like Paris, Berlin or even our main case study Bethlehem, which as it is going to be discussed throughout the article has a strong graffiti scene especially on its separation wall which made it into a huge billboard that artists race to paint and show their controversial art on. This research tries to categorise these graffities in individual categories in order to understand this art more and how it is affected by the events that happen in Bethlehem and Palestine in general, which gives other researchers a base to build on for future studies that are wider and inclusive to a bigger sample of graffities. This article shows how resistance is not defined by physical acts only but also through art that travels through minds and touches souls.

Journey diaries by pilgrims such as the Anonymous from Bordeaux, Egeria, and the Anonymous from Piacenza, together with liturgical sources such as the Armenian Calendar, allow to reconstruct the sacred and devotional landscape of the Holy Land linked to the evangelic episodes of the Infancy of Christ. The holy sites related to the Infancy used to attract crowds of worshippers not only during the stational liturgy. These shrines used to constitute a topographical network of pilgrimage around the main core of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, built by emperor Constantine in the IV century. During their journeys pilgrims used to visit the Poimnion, the field in which the shepherds should have received the announcement of the Birth of Christ, the shrine of Kathisma, where the Virgin stopped to rest on the way to Bethlehem, and the collective sepulchre of the Holy Innocents killed during the Slaughter. References to the same events appear on iconographic cycles of the most ancient Palestinian artworks and especially on the ampullae that pilgrims brought with them on their way back home. Moreover, we found images could also be influenced by devotional and cult practices, causing the appearance of new iconographic motives. For example, the worship of miraculous wells, such as the Star Well and the water of the first bath of Christ in the Nativity Church, began to be mentioned in the sources during the same period in which the Washing of the Child appears in the Nativity’s representations, between the VII and the VIII century.