A program titled “The Nativity Cycle in Western Art” will be presented by the Middle Peninsula Fine Arts Association of Gloucester, a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts community partner, at 7:15 p.m. next Thursday, Oct. 17, at Arts on Main, 6580 Main Street, Gloucester. It is free and open to the public. Barbara Rothermel, director of Daura Gallery at Lynchburg College, will be the guest speaker.Those who would like to join association members for dinner at 5:45 p.m. at a cost of $23 may email tishgrant1@gmail.com no later than Sunday, Oct. 13. Narrative scenes of the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary were, by the Middle Ages, the most common images in Western art, said a press release, and they were found throughout the architecture of the church—pulpit, doors, altarpieces, and so on. The scenes were remarkable for their consistency of composition, said the release, which was because they were meant to be “read” to inform the Christian viewer of the life and teachings of Christ. They were...