Known from the 4th century CE as “more evangelist than prophet because he describes all the mysteries of Christ (Christ, Jesus, 01: Survey) and the church so clearly” (Jerome), Isaiah’s role in early Christian iconography was defined for the most part by his association with the Nativity. The centrality of his Immanuel prophecy, “Behold a virgin shall conceive” (Ecce virgo concipiet; Isa 7:14), goes back to the very beginning of the New Testament (Matt 1:23). This was to become the verse most commonly …