Religious Images

The shepherds as well as the Wise Men have occult powers and special links with the cosmos. The shepherds symbolize the humble; the Wise Men, power and riches.

The first representations of the Wise Men show oriental sages dressed in white pantaloons and Phrygian caps. Traditionally, the three Wise Men represent humanity, carry symbolic gifts and are followed by magnificent processions. Gaspard is usually depicted in blue, holding a cup containing incense, and represents Africa; Balthazar, dressed in red and holding an urn full of gold, represents Asia; and Melchior, dressed in green, holds a casket of myrrh and represents Europe (or the black, Semitic and Aryan races).

Because of their emphasis on the miraculous, the other iconographic elements: the cave, the crèche, and the stable animals which appear in the apocryphal Gospels are not recognized in the Holy Scriptures.