Scripture · Luke 2:16
Luke 2:7
Adoration of the Christ Child
And she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The baby reaches toward the robe he is lying on. Correggio makes a fold of Mary’s clothing the connection between the kneeling mother and her restless child.
About the artwork
Mary holds her hands apart, palms open, and bends toward the infant. His small arm reaches up as his legs stir against the cloth and straw. Her blue mantle supplies his bedding, so the fabric that clothes her also protects him from the ground. Reverence has not removed the ordinary bodily ties between them.
The Uffizi connects this image of a kneeling mother and radiant newborn with Saint Bridget of Sweden’s account of the birth. Correggio makes the visionary subject unusually intimate: the exchange of looks and the reaching hand are recognisable infant behaviour. The vast column and distant dawn frame a relationship that takes place within arm’s reach.
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What does Luke 2:7 mean?
Luke 2:7 gives Mary three practical actions: she gives birth, wraps her son and lays him in a manger. Correggio pauses before the wrapping, drawing on the later devotional tradition to show her adoring him. The contrast brings something in Luke into sharper focus. The child who receives worship is also the child who needs covering, support and the warmth of someone else’s clothing.
Sources
Uffizi collection record. Uffizi discussion of the infant reaching for Mary’s robe, the cloth beneath him and the connection with Saint Bridget’s vision.
Luke 2 — Berean Standard Bible. The paired text read in its surrounding chapter.
Also from Luke:A ForerunnerRaising of Jairus’ Daughter