Mural Paintings of “Nativity Church” in “Bethlehem” between Historical Value and the Uniqueness of Aesthetic Influences

Abstract

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, is the oldest church that embraced Christian religious rituals on a daily basis. It has a unique historical status, as Saint Helena, the mother of Constantine I (the first Roman Emperor to announce his conversion to Christianity), was the one who came up with the idea. It contained many wall artworks that inspired artists throughout subsequent eras During the modern era, the church witnessed restoration operations that had a great impact in directing the world’s attention to the artistic monuments it contains. The following research is an attempt to determine the historical value of the church, while conducting an analytical study of the plastic values ​​and symbolic content contained in the church’s wall works, and highlighting the most important mutual influences between them. Among the corresponding works in churches and Islamic architecture. Here, the researcher assumes that the artwork in the church contained plastic solutions that reflect the maturity of the artist’s personality at that time, despite it being one of the oldest churches historically, in addition to the existence of mutual influences between the plastic values ​​present in the murals that adorn the church and many of the wall depictions in other places.