The Nativity is a devotional mid-1450s oil-on-wood panel painting by the Early Netherlandish painter Petrus Christus. It shows a nativity scene with grisaille archways and trompe-l'œil sculptured reliefs. Christus was influenced by the first generation of Netherlandish artists, especially Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, and the panel is characteristic of the simplicity and naturalism of art of that period. Placing archways as a framing device is a typical van der Weyden device, and here likely borrowed from that artist's Saint John Altarpiece and Miraflores Altarpiece. Yet Christus adapts these painterly motifs to a uniquely mid-15th century sensibility, and the unusually large panel – perhaps painted as a central altarpiece panel for a triptych – is nuanced and visually complex. It shows his usual harmonious composition and employment of one-point-perspective, especially evident in the geometric forms of the shed's roof, and his bold use of color. It is one of Christus's most important works. Max Friedländer definitely attributed the panel to Christus in 1930, concluding that "in scope and importance, [it] is superior to all other known creations of this master."
The overall atmosphere is one of simplicity, serenity and understated sophistication. It is reflective of the 14th-century Devotio Moderna movement, and contains complex Christian symbolism, subtly juxtaposing Old and New Testament iconography. The sculpted figures in the archway depict biblical scenes of sin and punishment, signaling the advent of Christ's sacrifice, with an over-reaching message of the "Fall and Redemption of humankind". Inside the archway, surrounded by four angels, is the Holy Family; beyond, a landscape extends into the far background.
Art historians have suggested completion dates ranging from the early 1440s to the early 1460s, with c. 1455 seen as probable. The panel was acquired by Andrew Mellon in the 1930s, and was one of several hundreds from his personal collection donated to the National Gallery of Art in Washington. It has suffered damage and was restored in the early 1990s for an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Description
The Nativity is unusually large for a 15th-century Early Netherlandish single-panel painting at 127.6 cm × 94.9 cm (50.2 in × 37.4 in), and covering four oak boards.Ainsworth (1994), 215 No evidence of missing wing panels exists, yet its size suggests it may have been a central panel of a large triptych. Art historian Joel Upton writes that with its size, style, tone and composition, Christus painted "an Andachtsbild, with monumental, ciboriumlike dimensions".Upton (1975), 53 The distinction between the figures and the space around them is characteristic of Christus's work, as is its one-point perspective. The background landscape is serene as are the "charming, almost doll-like figures who make up the cast of characters."Upton (1975), 52
The setting is a shed enclosed in the front by what appear to be two stone pillars and an archway, rendered in grisaille. A tiny figure (atlante) hunches at the base of each pillar holding it up. On each pillar stand statues of Adam and Eve – Adam on the left and Eve to the right. At the bottom a marble threshold connects the arch. The top corners of the arch have two spandrels.Silver (1982), 21 The Fall of Man is shown in six scenes from the Book of Genesis within the archivolt, rendered in relief. Two are of Adam and Eve; their expulsion from paradise and Adam tilling the soil. The others are of Cain and Abel: their sacrifice to God; Cain slaying Abel; God appearing to Abel; Cain expelled to the Land of Nod.Birkmeyer (1961), 105
In the shed Mary and Joseph share an intensely private moment before the Annunciation to the shepherds of the Christ child's birth to the shepherds.Upton (1975), 58 They are rendered in bright colors. Mary wears a long flowing blue robe, Joseph a green-lined red cape over a brown robe. He holds his hat in hand, and his pattens are respectfully removed, left lying on the ground.Hand (1987), 42 They gaze reverently at the newborn figure of Jesus who lies on Mary's robe. Mary's features have a softness and sweetness more characteristic of Christus's later paintings and remarkably similar to his Madonna of the Dry Tree, according to Maryan Ainsworth.Ainsworth (1994), 161 Kneeling in adoration to either side are four small angels.
Animals are visible in stalls. Behind them is a crumbling wall with three low Romanesque windows.Birkmeyer (1961), 107 Four shepherds in contemporary 15th-century clothing are chatting amiably, leaning against the wall, looking into the shed. Two are positioned to the left and two to the right; in each pair one is dressed in red and another in blue. Behind the shed is a small hill where two shepherds herd sheep along a pathway,Upton (1975), 55 and beyond is a Netherlandish town with two domed structures in its center, symbolizing Jerusalem and Christ's Passion."The Nativity". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved December 23, 2013 The large domed building is based on the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, a replica of which the Adornes family built in Bruges in 1427, called the Jerusalem chapel.Marten (1990), 13–14 A flock of geese is visible high in the sky through the roof's trusses.Upton (1975), 51
Light shines into the shed from outside through the low windows. The shadows cast suggest the dawn of a new day.Upton (1975), 57 The four onlookers in the rear are in light and shadow, especially noticeable on the face of the man second from the right. Here Christus borrows an optical device from the work of his predecessors Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, but is bolder and more accomplished with his use of light, which art professor Lola Gellman describes as having "no counterpoint in previous art."Gellman (1970), 147
Iconography The panel is rich in Christian iconography, which reflects the shift in religious attitudes to a more meditative and solitary devotion in the 14th century, exemplified by the Devotio Moderna movement. The painting is devotional; its iconography clearly juxtaposes Old and New Testament imagery, conveying themes of punishment and redemption, against the belief that a second chance is available through the birth of Christ.Upton (1975), 50–51
Depictions of the Nativity changed significantly in European art following St Bridget's visions of the event. According to Upton, the scene "became a source of emotional reward for one's faith, a private vision in response to one's contemplation." In Bridget's version of the event, Mary does not lie in a bed while giving birth. The event occurs in a cave, where, dressed in white, Mary kneels or stands in devotion before the infant lying on the ground. Joseph holds a candle to illuminate the birth. Robert Campin's c. 1420 Nativity is representative of Bridget's narrative; the cave has been substituted by a shed with animals, Mary's handmaidens are present, while angels and shepherds rejoice.Upton (1975), 59 Christus simplified the narrative: removing the handmaidens and relegating the animals to the background. Mary's white dress is replaced with a deep-blue robe. His Nativity is somber and subdued, an embodiment of the "austere calm of timeless worship."Upton (1975), 61
The Nativity conveys both the Old Testament themes of sin and punishment and the New Testament doctrine of sacrifice and redemption.Ainsworth (1994), 158–161 Although Adam and Eve to either side of the arch are suggestive of those in van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece, they differ significantly. Here they are painted as grisaille statues in contrast to van Eyck's lifelike versions; and, unlike van Eyck's, here Adam and Eve stand in shame hiding their nudity.Upton (1975), 54 Earthly sin and strife, anger and revenge, are represented in the warriors in the corner spandrels, and signify that which Christ's birth would bring to an end.
Themes of punishment and redemption are further explored in the six scenes on the arch, where the reliefs show the events from (from left to right): The angel of God expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden; post-Expulsion life "when Adam delved and Eve spun"; the sacrifices of Cain and Abel; Cain killing Abel; (top) God banishing Cain; Cain saying farewell to his parents, or possibly his brother Seth leaving to find the Tree of Life, a Jewish legend from The Apocalypse of Moses, a pseudepigraphical work from antiquity.Murdoch (2009), 6
The two uppermost reliefs on the arch, which have a central focus and function as keystones, bring attention to the juxtaposition of Old and New Testament themes. The relief to the left shows Cain and Abel sacrificing to God; on the right Cain commits the sin of murder, which God punishes. The two reliefs also function as a temporal device, leading the viewer directly to the moment of Christ's birth and mankind's redemption, which occurs below in the shed.Upton (1975), 63–64 The viewer is reminded that mankind must sacrifice to Christ, who lies directly below, or risk punishment and expulsion from the church, just as God expelled Cain.Upton (1975), 65 The Fall of man acted out on the archway reminds the viewer of the "necessity of Christ's sacrifice".
The semicircle of rock inside the doorsill remind the viewer to abandon sin. The viewer is reminded to reach a full understanding of the significance of the event, achieved with the two groupings of shepherds at the rear of the shed. Two of the four are active and two are passive. The man dressed in blue on the left is listening; the man in blue to the right is seeing, while their counterparts in red do neither. Although actively looking and listening, the two men in blue do not appear to have a full understanding of the event.Upton (1975), 69–70 Upton explains the medieval viewer would have understood that in the iconography Christus presented "man who would listen without hearing, and look without seeing." The viewer is reminded to comprehend the painting's vision and iconography, to fully recognize the significance of Christ's coming, to hear and see the word of God, and to obey God's wishes.Upton (1990), 100
The tuft of grass sprouting from the roof's central truss above the figures conveys a number of meanings. Although the shrub is naturally rendered, Christus almost certainly placed it there for its symbolic value; its positioning suggests he followed a program of disguised iconography. The most obvious meaning is of new life and new beginnings.Upton (1975), 71–77 On a secular level, the shrub may have indicated Christus's membership in the Confraternity of the Dry Tree, which he joined sometime around 1462–63.Sterling (1971), 19 The confraternity was prestigious, including among its ranks Burgundian nobility, such as Philip the Good and his wife Isabella, wealthy foreign merchants and members from Bruges's upper classes. The tuft of grass also symbolizes the tree of life,Steefel (1962), 137 and Upton theorizes that by placing it there, Christus "has given expression to the legend" of Adam's third son, Seth, whose quest for a branch was a popular legend in the medieval period. Furthermore, alludes to Moses and the burning bush. According to Upton, in Christus's Nativity Joseph assumes Moses's role of protector and law-bringer; just as Joseph has removed his pattens in the presence of Christ, Moses removed his shoes in the presence of the bush.