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3. “And she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him and laid him in a manger,
for there was no room for them in the common room.” Luke. II, 7

6. Pictures of the Nativity, the first night of Christ’s life on earth, tend to emphasize the fragility of the infant and the wonder felt
by those who first witnessed his coming.
The child is usually centrally positioned, and the Virgin is shown in loving contemplation.
Ox and donkey, two animals mentioned in Isaiah’s prophecy about the Messiah (Isaiah 1:3), usually appear near the baby.
Joseph didn’t become a consistent part of the nativity scene until the 6th century.
A picture may show Mary and Joseph alone with the Christ Child, but more often the holy family is joined by the shepherds
who were the first to worship him on earth.

7. Nativity in Western Painting

8. a prototype for centuries of subsequent paintings …
a humble shed set into rock,
the Holy Family,
Joseph in his usual thoughtful attitude, sitting outside the grotto;
animals ox, ass, sheep,
two midwives bathing the Child (probably Salome and Zelomi),
shepherds, angels
Duccio di Buoninsegna
The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel
Nativité entourée des prophètes Isaïe et Ézéchiel
1308-1311
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

10. a rather ramshackle wooden stable,
the Virgin is kneeling, her hands held out in a gesture of adoration,
the Christ Child lies on the bare earth, radiant with light;
the ox and the ass, untypically for such a composition, have turned
their backs on the newborn infant, rather than drawing near to warm
him with their breath;
Joseph, who had been a figure of mockery throughout the Middle Ages,
is here presented as a venerable old man, he holds a candle;
two midwives who were summoned by Joseph in a moment of anxiety,
three shepherds, seemingly prevented from approaching any closer
by awe and respect,
four angels they are holding phylacteries,
a extended landscape
Robert Campin
La Nativité
The Nativity
1415-1430
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon

14. two stone pillars and an archway,
statues of Adam and Eve,
in relief six scenes from the Book of Genesis;
the infant Jesus naked, resting on the ground in front of the Virgin Mary,
a balding and bearded Joseph with his walking stick;
the ox and ass,
kneeling in adoration four small angels,
four shepherds in contemporary 15th-century clothing are chatting
amiably;
a small hill,
a Netherlandish town with two domed structures in its center,
symbolizing Jerusalem and Christ's Passion
Petrus Christus
The Nativity
Nativité
1445-1450
The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

18. the stable is a half-ruined thatched Romanesque building,
rather than the traditional wooden hut
Mary is wearing a light blue,
Joseph in a red gown holds a lighted candle,
donor in black clothes;
an angel announcing the birth of Jesus,
a city with a road, walls and towers
Rogier van der Weyden
Bladelin Triptych, Nativity central panel
Triptyque Bladelin, Nativité panneau central
1446
Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

21. a scene of great tenderness and reverence,
the divine glow from the Christ Child is a pocket of light in the darkness,
creating a sense of intimacy and awe
the infant Christ, lying in the manger, is watched over by Mary,
Joseph and adoring angels,
an ox and donkey peer out of the darkness behind;
the shepherds and their sheep up on the hills huddled around a fire,
and gaze up in awe at the shining angel in the sky above them
Geertgen tot Sint Jans
Nativity at Night
Nativité de nuit
1490
The National Gallery, London

26. the Nativity in a traditional, though especially intimate, manner …
the Virgin kneels humbly as she gazes at the Christ Child,
Joseph assumes a pose of restrained wonderment, as if suddenly
aware of the infant’s divine nature;
angels,
and
a wonderful landscape background
Fra Bartolomeo
The Nativity
La nativité
1504-1507
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

31. the golden dome of heaven has opened up and is circled by 12 angels
holding olive branches entwined,
the infant Christ reaches up towards the Virgin Mary, oblivious of his visitors,
three pairs of angels and men embrace,
among their feet demons scuttle for shelter in the underworld through
cracks in the rocks
Sandro Botticelli
Mystic Nativity
La Nativité mystique
1500
The National Gallery, London

36. a traditional theme
Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus,
three angels overhead
and
a crucifix
(concentrating in one image the initial (the Nativity) and final (the Crucifixion)
moment of the Redemption seems to derive from Venetian ideas)
Lorenzo Lotto
The Nativity
La Nativité
1523
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

39. the miraculous nature of the birth of Jesus ....
Joseph supports a swooning Mary,
Jesus hovers above the manger,
he is received by Mary's cousin, Saint Elizabeth,
whose own child, John the Baptist, rests in her lap
the traditional ox and ass,
a cross glows in the window as if reflected in the light
of the star of Bethlehem
the infant Jesus' outstretched arms prefigure his Crucifixion
William Blake
The Nativity
Nativité
1799-1800
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

43. Gauguin’s version of the Christian Nativity …
a Mary lying on her decorated bed, seeming exhausted;
the divine child relegated to the background, the only reference
to the sacred, the yellow halo around his head;
two women watch over the newborn baby,
one is an angel with green wings, symbol of hope;
in the background, a reference to the Biblical story of Christ’s birth
in a manger
Paul Gauguin
Te Tamari no Atua
The Son of God
Le fils de Dieu
1896
Neue Pinakothek, Munich

47. Mary reclining outdoors on a rustic bed that
resembles a bier with her newborn son, Jesus,
both wrapped in shroud-like garments ...
Joseph, sits on the ground reading a manuscript
in Gothic script,
three angels stand to the side holding symbols
of the passion:
a crown of thorns, a chalice, and a jar of myrrh,
a traditional burial spice
Edward Burne-Jones
The Nativity
La Nativité
1888
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

51. Augustus Caesar sits in front of the Temple of Janus,
surrounding him are scholars and statesmen
and …
the isolated group in the foreground, protected by an angel,
represents Mary and Joseph adoring the Child Jesus ...
Jean-Léon Gérôme
The Age of Augustus, the Birth of Christ
Le Siècle d'Auguste, naissance de N.S. Jésus-Christ
1852-1854
J. Paul Getty Museum

55. the Pre-Raphaelite Eleanor …
a thoroughly contemporary look, apart from the Virgin Mary’s costume
Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale
The Nativity
La nativité
-
Private collection

58. an unusual version of the Nativity ...
the Virgin Mary dressed in white,
the traditional blue has transferred from her clothing to the flaked
paint of the ruins behind her
Virginie Demont-Breton
Alma Mater
-
Private collection

61. a Nabi artist and a thoroughly modern Nativity …
the birth of Jesus takes place in a French town;
a dodgy-looking couple are leaning out of their window;
Joseph himself looks very French,
but
behind him are traditional ox and ass, and a small flock
of sheep are watching from outside
Maurice Denis
Nativité
Nativity
1894
Musée des Augustins de Toulouse, Toulouse

65. olga_oes
Nativity in Western Painting
Nativité dans la peinture occidentale
images and text credit www.
Music The Piano Guys What Child Is This (Piano & Electric Cello)
created olga.e.
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