The Nativity Icon with the Family Tree of Jesus Christ

Dear Friends!

Today we present to you a unique icon from the Collection of the National Preserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” dedicated to one of the greatest holidays of the year – Christmas. It is the Nativity Icon with the Family Tree of Jesus Christ, created by a Ukrainian artist in the middle of the 18th century (KPL-Z-389). The artifact has a rare iconography related to the Nativity of Christ. It reveals the idea of the work and explains the meaning of the inscription that this is an image of the Book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. The inscription is placed at the top of the icon on a ribbon - a banderol.

In the center of the icon, there is a large medallion depicting the Nativity scene with the worship of shepherds. It is located among the branches of a spreading tree, which represents Jesus Christ’s family tree. The ancestors of Jesus Christ from the human race, with the Old Testament Abraham are depicted in golden oval medallions on the branches of the tree.

The composition of the icon is a visual interpretation of the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, which describes the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the descendant of David and Abraham, names 42 families and emphasizes the connection of the Son of God with mankind (Matthew 1: 1-18).

On the branches of the tree, there are 42 medallions with busts of the Old Testament personalities - 21 on each side of the center. At the top of each medallion, there is an explanatory inscription according to the text of the Gospel: “Abraham begat Isaac; Isaac begat Jacob…” and so on to “Joseph the husband of Mary”. Each medallion has its numbering below, which determines the sequence of images according to the Gospel text.

The medallions are located from left to right, from bottom to top according to the numbering. Interestingly, in the rows where several images are placed, the countdown starts from the first medallion on the left in the left part of the center of the tree, the next one is the first medallion on the left in the right part of the icon. Then the second left medallion is in the left part of the composition, and it is followed by the second left medallion in the right part. Respectively, the last medallion in a row on the left side of the icon is followed by the last medallion on the right side.

According to the author's numbering of medallions, the numbers 14 and 27 are repeated twice. It is noteworthy that the icon twice depicts King David as an emphasis on the origin of Jesus Christ from the royal family. Two medallions under ref. 14 have two different images of King David: one has an inscription "David the King gave birth to Solomon", and the other - "King David".

At the bottom of the icon, there is a text that reveals the essence of the coming to the earth of “…Jesus Christ, a true judge, king and priest for the sake of our salvation”.

A unique icon of the 18th century with the family tree of Jesus Christ was kept in the Borisoglebsk Church in the Podil district of Kyiv. After the destruction of the ancient church in the 1930s, the icon has been housed in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Preserve collection. It is constantly exhibited in the Preserve expositions and beyond.

The text was prepared by Iryna Schultz
Research Division for the Study of Artistic Heritage

Fig. 1. The Nativity Icon with the Family Tree of Jesus Christ. The middle of the 18^th century. Kyiv. Wood, oil. KPL-Z-389