No Crib for a Bed
Away in a mangerNo crib for a bed.The little Lord JesusLaid down His sweet head.
So begins the classic Christmas carol, “Away in a Manger.”
I recently came across this elaborate devotional object which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The object represents the “Crib of the Infant Jesus.” Miniature cradles for the Christ Child were popular in the 1400s and 1500s. Women often received one of these cradles as a gift when they took their vows to become nuns.
Crib of the Infant Jesus, 1400s
Made in Brabant, South Netherlands
Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of ARt,
Gift of Ruth Blumka, in memory of Leopold Blumka, 1974
This “Crib of the Infant Jesus” is made of wood, lead, silver-gilt, painted parchment, silk embroidery with seed pearls, gold thread, and translucent enamels. The bed is approximately 14 by 11.5 by 7.25 inches and is topped with a silk coverlet and pillow.
The cradle model once resided in the Grand Béguinage in Louvain, Belgium. A beguinage was a complex which housed beguines. Beguines were devoted Catholic women who lived in a community, but did not leave the world and take vows to become nuns. The Grand Béguinage in Louvain was founded in the 1200s. The community reached its largest population in the 1600s when about 360 beguines lived there. Today the Grand Béguinage is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Those living there now are students, visiting professors, and staff of the University of Louvain, which is one of the oldest Catholic universities in Europe.
As we remember our Lord Jesus this Christmas, we remember the humble place where He really laid His head on that history-altering night in Bethlehem and are eternally grateful.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son;
and she wrapped Him in cloths,
and laid Him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7
The angel told the shepherds who were keeping watch over their flock nearby:
This will be a sign for you:
you will find a baby wrapped in cloths
and lying in a manger.”
Luke 2:12
So they came in a hurry
and found their way to Mary and Joseph,
and the baby as He lay in the manger.
Luke 2:16