The Manger and the Cross

"The Manger and the Cross"– Beate Heinen (1986)

 An interpretation from several sources of this provocative image –  

"In this image, the manger and the cross, birth and death, beginning and end of human life into one is summarized. In the foreground is the cave with Mary is in a blue robe and Joseph in the earth-brown cloak between the child in the manger. The darkness of the cave is like the womb of the earth, from which all life comes.

" This cycle also implies the crib, which is both the feeding trough of the animals as well as already sarcophagus. The  newborn child  is wrapped in towels, his hand reaches into the mother . The crib is more of a marble coffin as stone lining. Here’s already a reference to the event that is at the end of the life cycle of the child Jesus. 

" The viewer follows the winding path. The road appears more tortuous at the beginning and then merges into a a blossoming landscape over green hills beyond on the mountain. It runs through vernal landscape with flowering trees and flower-filled meadows.

" Somewhere in the middle stroll three figures deep in conversation. The figure in the middle exudes a peculiar glow. The other two are facing concentrated. This may be a reference to the "Road to Emmaus." The sky turns cloudy with a color similar to the garment of the figure in the middle.

" The life between birth and death seems to be going in different, contradictory directions, looking at the individual parts of the route. But if one looks at the way as a whole, so it is a logical connection between the birth grotto to Cross Mountain.

" Just as the man Jesus to accompany him along his way, he accompanied each of us on his journey through this world. Like the disciples of Emmaus , we are full of questions. We are full of incomprehension, only see the respective path section and often think that the direction was wrong.

" But suddenly the landscape changes summarizes seamlessly. Bare trees into the sky. They stand on empty fields, partly in the snow that covers the peaks of the distant hills. Autumn, Winter stifle the lightness of spring. A cold breath blowing through the image.

" The way is winding upwards; it is steep. Nothing is growing there any more. There is no green, only grey. It is not a place of life, but of death.

" And then at the end of the path: three crosses. The arch closes. The child in the sarcophagus ends on the cross. Christmas and Good Friday together. The birth finds its fulfillment in death. Both together but guarantee us life, provides courage to follow our often tortuous path."

About the artist – Beate Heinen was born in 1944 in Essen, Germany and began painting at 4 and went to college in Cologe. Seventeen year Beate Heinen found himself called to become a Benedictine. As it turns out, Ms. Heinen spent her novitiate years at St. Hildegard before going to Switzerland to learn painting with several well-known surrealist artists in the mountains. Eventually she decided not to become a nun, and settled in Bonn to work as a professional artist. Ms. Heinen has since been producing biblically-themed paintings as well as commissions in churches around the country.