RELIEF OF SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN

ICONOGRAPHY 

The subject matter depicted revolves around the life of the Holy Virgin Mary as the Mother of God. Illustration begins with the Wedding Feast in which the figures are arranged in a very atypical fashion: here, the figures of the bride and groom are not displayed facing each other as they normally are, but the figure of Saint Joseph is relegated to a position of secondary importance and placed to the rear. The Annunciation of the angel Gabriel gives way to episodes concerning the Childhood of the Holy Infant, concentrating mainly on the episodes of His Birth and Adoration surrounded by a small chorus of angels. Here again, Saint Joseph is relegated to a discreet second place.

Two more scenarios refer to different divine episodes of newly-born Infant: the Adoration of the Magi in which the three wise men offer their gifts, and the Presentation in the Temple in which Simeon the Elder reveals the role the Holy Infant will play as the future Messiah.

In addition to the above, Layna Serrano's book also mentions a figure of the Holy Virgin that "accompanied" these reliefs, but which was destroyed in 1938 during an air raid that affected the convent of Our Holy Lady of Bethlehem, which was also probably the name of the patron saint of the place of worship from whence it originally came.