Scripture · Luke 2:8-20
Luke 2:16
The Holy Night
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby, who was lying in the manger.
Light from the infant falls across Mary’s face while a nearby woman raises a hand toward her eyes in Correggio’s Holy Night.
About the artwork
Correggio makes the child the source of the immediate illumination. Mary stays close and looks down, while the other woman’s raised hand suggests the brightness is difficult to meet directly. The differing responses give the light a physical effect on the people gathered around it.
The tall shepherd at the left and the angels sweeping across the upper edge create two approaches to the same small child. One comes from the dark ground, the other from above; Mary remains still between them. Made about 1528–1530 for a chapel in San Prospero, Reggio Emilia, this large altarpiece gathers earthly visitors and heavenly praise into a single space of worship.
Featured in: Why Does Baby Jesus Glow in Nativity Paintings?
What does Luke 2:16 mean?
Luke 2:16 records the shepherds arriving and finding the family with the baby in the manger. Earlier, the glory of the Lord shines around the shepherds during the angel’s announcement. Luke does not say that the infant itself lights the place where he lies.
Correggio brings the heavenly host and the shepherds into the same picture, although Luke describes their meeting in the fields before the journey to Bethlehem. The painter’s gathering lets the announcement and its fulfillment be contemplated together. The woman who shields her eyes adds a bodily difficulty to that revelation: the child everyone has come to see is almost too bright to look at.
The light spreading from the child makes the shepherds’ arrival an image of revelation, adding a devotional interpretation to Luke’s simple account.
Sources
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany; Gal.-Nr. 152.
Why Does Baby Jesus Glow in Nativity Paintings?. Artwork reading adapted from this guide.
Luke 2 — Berean Standard Bible. Context for Luke 2:16.
Also from Luke:The Angel Appearing to ZachariasAnnunciation