Blog 1: Beauty and Festivity

Describe an encounter you’ve had with a piece of beautiful art. How did it manifest the three characteristics of beauty described by Hans-Georg Gadamer? How was it festive in the way described by Pieper?

Growing up in a Catholic home- or at least in my Catholic home- Nativity sets abounded during the Christmas season. Over the years, we have gathered a collection from trips, family, and friends. When nativity sets were mentioned in the lecture on Pieper’s book, my mind instantly pictured this set, which was a gift from family friends from Ethiopia.

It was never one of my favorites when I was little; I was apparently a very traditionalist child. Nevertheless, every year, I diligently arranged the characters in the most biblically accurate way possible (“Which way is east? The kings came from the east!”). I believe this was one of my earliest expressions of my faith, and certainly of the ritual and tradition that Pieper speaks of. As my understanding of the Catholic faith and the significance of the nativity has matured, however, my appreciation for it has grown. To an American Catholic, it points to one of my favorite characters of the Church: Her universality. Not only does this nativity scene express the same universality of the original nativity- shepherds, kings, a young couple, a newborn baby, and even barn animals- but the African-styled patterns remind me that the Church extends far beyond my own community.

Looking at the Nativity sculptures through Gadamer’s lens, this scene has strong connections to play, symbol, and festivity.

Play

I see two primary aspects of play in this set: the design of the figures themselves, and the act of setting up the scene during Christmas time. While the figures clearly convey their meaning- a depiction of those present at the Nativity of Jesus- the artist strayed from a direct imitation of their appearance in favor of a more gestural model with beautiful patterns indicative of the artist’s culture in Ethiopia. The patterns specifically fit well into Gadamer’s description of play: there is a “self-discipline and order [imposed] on [the] movements while playing” (Gadamer, 23). The pattern has no apparent meaning, no clear revelation, but it is intentional and ordered in the same way on each figure. This playfulness of the designs and bright colors adds to the beauty of the piece.

Symbol

The nativity scene in itself is a symbol. Gadamer recalls the Greek usage of the word symbol as “a token of remembrance” (31). In the act of assembling the nativity scene, there is an active remembering of how God was incarnated in the person of Christ. We “unveil” the truth that Christ was born into the humblest of circumstances in a manger, while also understanding the mystery of the Incarnation that remains “veiled.” In doing so, we are called to contemplate that “increase in being that something acquires by being represented” (37). As I mentioned earlier, this particular scene reminds me of the Church’s universality, and acts as a symbol that She is not what I am comfortable picturing Her as, rather as an “increased” version- which covers the entire planet.

Festival

Because I have experienced this piece of art every single year in the weeks before Christmas, this is Godamer’s characteristic of art that rings the most true to me. While, as the youngest sibling I was usually given the task of assembling all of the nativity scenes at my house, each of them was a communal experience for the whole family to enjoy. As pointed out in class, nativity scenes are intrinsically tied to the Christmas season, and I believe they play a huge role in maintaining the truly festive celebration of Christmas, tying our more commercial practices back to the trite but true “reason for the season.”

Gadamer and Pieper both discuss the traditional aspects of festivity, and the importance of the festival elements being passed down through generations. As I wrap up my final year of college and make plans to get my own apartment and start my career, my mother has been putting aside various Christmas decorations, kitchen utensils, and bakeware for me to take with me. One of the first things she offered was this nativity scene. In this way, it is a perfect example of Pieper’s traditum, something “to be handed on undiminished” (Pieper, 35). In this way, the nativity scene becomes those “fine arts [that] keep alive the memory of the true ritualistic, religious origins of festivals” (53), and the incarnation (pun intended) of the festivity of Christmas. The nativity scene is a perfect representation of both author’s understanding of festivity because it retains the religious mystery of the Christmas festival in a way that is tangible and sensory for humans to understand and celebrate.