8 September
Icon of the Nativity of the Mother of God
The Byzantine liturgical year begins on 1 September, and the first great feast it meets is the birth of Mary: the joy of Joachim and Anne who, after long years of waiting, receive the daughter who will become Mother of God.
How to read the icon
- Saint Anne reclining on her bed, like the Mother of God in the Christmas icon, attended by women bringing gifts and food.
- Below, midwives preparing the newborn's bath.
- Set apart or looking in, Saint Joachim, the father.
- Sometimes the cradle with the infant Mary and, in a corner, the meeting of Joachim and Anne at the Golden Gate.
A gift for a birth
The story of Mary's birth is told in the Protoevangelium of James, a 2nd-century text loved by the whole ancient Church. For its domestic joy, the icon is a gift for the birth of a girl, for a couple who long awaited a child, for grandparents, for those named Mary or Anne. Like every icon by Concetta Basile, it is fully gilded with 23¾ karat gold, with inscriptions in Greek or Latin, and is commissioned with an offering proportionate to the time and materials of the work.
Frequently asked questions
How do I commission a feast icon?
In the configurator choose «Liturgical feast» and enter the name of the feast; the number of figures can be changed. In the conversation with Concetta Basile you agree together on composition, size and inscriptions.