II.5.4. THE CHURCH CANNOT SHOW PAGAN DECOR

SO IT USES ANTIQUITY IN ANOTHER WAY

Compare these 11th-and 16th-century views of the Nativity:  

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The medieval shepherds wear work cloths, and seem to be ordinary men. There descendant has the body of a god and wears the drapery of antiquity. 

 The sacrality of gold yields to a Roman arc.

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Detour: History, anecdotes or the economy?