Of the so-called twelve (or twelve most important) Orthodox holidays, one is dedicated to the memory of the birthday of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. It is also a very important holiday in the Catholic Church. This event falls on September 8 (September 21 for churches adhering to the old style).
Holiday events
To more accurately understand the iconographic content of the holiday, one should briefly cover its events and theological content. According to the doctrine of the Orthodox Church, Mary, the future Mother of God, was born from the righteous Jews of Joachim and Anna. This couple was vilified among society, since they had no children, and in those days it was considered God's punishment for sins. Subsequently, after intensified prayers and sorrows, an angel from God announced to the righteous that their prayer was heard and they would give birth to a child whose glory will spread throughout the world. Nine months later, according to legend, they gave birth to Mary, whom they vowed to bring up in the Jerusalem Temple. The Bible does not have any information on this subject, and all information relates to a relatively late tradition, partially reflected in the apocryphal book - the so-called Proto-Gospel of James.
Oldest images
To date, the earliest images on this holiday date back to the beginning of the second millennium. An example is the mural of the temple in Ateni (Georgia) on the motives of the plot “The Nativity of the Virgin”. The icon, or rather the fresco of this plot, in this church dates back to the 11th century, but it is possible that it is a reconstruction of an even earlier image. The paintings in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev belong to the same period.
In general, the early images of the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin (this icon or a fresco on the wall of the church does not matter) are quite simple and straightforward. They do not have a heap of secondary details and symbols characteristic of a more developed tradition. The central place in the composition is occupied by the figure of Anna lying on the bed. In front of her is a midwife, and on the edges are women with traditional gifts in honor of the birth of a child.
Late tradition
As already mentioned, over time, the plot “The Nativity of the Virgin”, an icon or fresco of which was present in every Orthodox church from 13-14 centuries, began to become more complex and detailed, accumulating various auxiliary elements. Such things include, for example, birds, interior and household items of the house of Anna and Joachim, ponds, etc.
For example, you can recall the fresco from the Basilica of St. Mary in Rome of the 13th century. Another vivid image on the theme “The Nativity of the Virgin” is an icon (16th century) or, more precisely, a fresco in the monastery of St. Ferapont in Russia, where one of the churches was consecrated in honor of this holiday. The author of this painting is the outstanding and famous icon painter Dionysius. Quite peculiar artistic decisions appeared in Bulgarian iconography. An example of the plot “The Nativity of the Virgin” is an icon (17-18 century) from Sofia.
Another innovation of the later tradition was to supply the central holiday image along the perimeter with the so-called life. In this case, we are talking about the artistic representation of the story of the Proto-Gospel of Jacob regarding the birth of Mary. It began with the image of the mourners Joachim and Anna, then the visit of Joachim to the temple with the aim of making a sacrifice and the refusal of the high priest to him was captured. This is followed by a post in the desert, the appearance of an angel and the meeting of the righteous spouses at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem. The conception devoid of any eroticism is specially designated. The very plot “Christmas of the Virgin”, the icon assigns a central place. And the everyday narrative completed the image of another Mother of God holiday - Introduction to the temple.
Conclusion
In the 17-19th century and later, the iconographic tradition in Russia fell into decay under the influence of Western academism and the general impoverishment of spiritual culture. Instead of icons, picturesque paintings on a religious theme began to be created. Although there were exceptions. An example on the theme “The Nativity of the Virgin” is an icon of Abel the Clairvoyant. More precisely, the icon was painted by his cellman Lazarus at the end of the 18th century, commissioned by the empress under the leadership of Abel. An interesting image is that, in the fields of it, some believe, the prophecies about the death of Emperor Pavel Petrovich, about the advent of the new king in the 21st century and about the end of the world. For this icon, Abel, along with the cell-keeper, was exiled.