There is no more central image of Christmas than the Nativity scene. Physical reenactments of the great day in Bethlehem trace their history to St. Francis, but the iconic grouping had been found in art for long before that. I was looking at one such painting by early Renaissance painter (and delightful liqueur) Fra Angelico. All the elements are there, Mary, immaculate as ever (shout out to the feast today), Joseph, almost painfully irrelevant, visitors (a huge group, including three or four partially clothed men in the back), ox, ass, horses, peacock.
Wait…peacock?
Quickly googling “peacock Nativity” I found an number of similar paintings as well as peacock figurines for use in Nativity sets. Now there are other birds, but doves, I can sort of see as a symbol of peace. Ducks and geese seems suitably “stabley,” The rooster is there because of the story of the cock crowing at midnight on Christmas. But I couldn’t think of any historic or symbolic reason for the peacock to be represented in a non-native part of the world, so I had my favorite thing at this time of year, a weird tradition to explain.
Luckily I Googled it so you don’t have to. It turns out there are three possible reasons for the inclusion, each slightly odder than the last. First, the many eyes on the feathers of peacocks were thought to represent the all-seeing eye of God, watching over the entire scene. Looking at this picture it would seem that he would need multiple eyes to keep track of the throng outside the stable…my gosh there is a crowd! The second explanation references a belief by St. Augustine that the peacock had “antiseptic qualities,” thus was an instrument of healing. The other belief of the time was that peacock flesh was incorruptible. I don’t know where this belief came from…perhaps peacock meat was so delicious that there was never any left to rot. Thus the incorruptible peacock symbolized the incorruptible Christ child.
These esoteric traditions reflect humanity’s ongoing need to add to and put their own stamp on the story. Whether it be pooping figures (see last year) or peacocks, the Nativity is a starting place for human imagination and creativity.
As always, I welcome your comments.