The Nativity 1538

This is Fra Xanto Avelli’s ‘The Nativity,’ an Italian maiolica plate made sometime in the 16th century. What first strikes you is the composition. It is arranged across two distinct registers. On the upper register, we see light and celestial forms, and on the lower register, a darker, earthier scene. Avelli uses the plate’s circular form to frame and present these spaces, yet also to flatten the perspective. Note how the landscape in the background seems to rise, pushing the scene forward. The semiotic interplay between the sacred and the mundane suggests the theological concept of Incarnation. Avelli's colour palette—earthy yellows and blues—along with the formal structure, function as signs, situating the artwork within the cultural and religious context of the Italian Renaissance, but also, as a site for ongoing interpretations of faith and form.