:Relative to 'Coptic Art' and 'Byzantine Art', there is at least one important fact and one respected authority that support the idea of refering to the Nativity icon in the St Catherine Monastery as 'Byzantine':

::The authority: the Getty refers to icons in St Catherine's as Byzantine Art (http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/icons_sinai/overview.html)

:I was ready to accede to these but decided to investigate the idea of it being 'Coptic Art' further. This led me to learn that the Coptic Patriarch Cyril I (404-430 A.D.) authorized the use of icons as a visual means for teaching Christian doctrines (http://www.coptic.net/articles/CopticIcons.txt). All of this tenatively aligns with your conjecture "I have my doubts that the tradition of this icon only extends to the 15th century." I would not be surprised that if someone were to carry our the academic exercise that Vasiliki suggests they would find that the Nativity icon extends back to at least the 5th century (404-430).--[[User:DUCKMARX|DUCKMARX]] 01:06, January 4, 2009 (UTC)