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The Nativity

A light-skinned man in red and woman in blue sit with an infant between them, angels beside and above them, a small town in the background.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A light-skinned man in red and woman in blue sit with an infant between them, angels beside and above them, a small town in the background.

Date:

1504/07

Artist:

Fra Bartolommeo (Baccio della Porta)
Italian, 1472-1517

About this artwork

The young Baccio della Porta came under the spell of the charismatic Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola, joining his monastic order as Fra (Friar) Bartolommeo in 1500 and forsaking his painting career for several years. Returning to painting in 1504, he looked to the most lyrical and harmonious recent works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo to form his own style, which was characterized by a new, quiet spirituality. The palette of saturated blue, red, and green announces the Holy Family, while the muted tones of the angels’ garments establish an otherworldly presence. Here he treated the Nativity in a traditional, though especially intimate, manner. The Virgin kneels humbly as she gazes at the Christ Child, while Joseph assumes a pose of restrained wonderment, as if suddenly aware of the infant’s divine nature. The family shelters in a rustic stall erected within the ruins of an edifice understood to be the palace of David at Bethlehem. This juxtaposition of architecture symbolizes Christ’s establishment of his new church on the Old Testament order of the Jews. Reinforcing this device is a young tree springing from a remnant of ancient stones directly above the infant.

Status

On View, Gallery 205

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Fra Bartolommeo

Title

The Nativity

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1504–1507

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

34 × 24.5 cm (13 3/8 × 9 5/8 in.)

Credit Line

Ethel T. Scarborough Fund; John G. Searle Family Trust, L. L. and A. S. Coburn, Mr. and Mrs. Lester King, John and Josephine Louis, Samuel A. Marx, Alexander McKay, Chester D. Tripp, and Murray Vale endowment funds; purchased with funds provided by Marilynn Alsdorf, Anne Searle Bent, David and Celia Hilliard, Alexandra and John Nichols, Mrs. Harold T. Martin, Mrs. George B. Young in memory of her husband, and the Rhoades Foundation; gift of John Bross and members of the Old Masters Society in memory of Louise Smith Bross; through prior gift of the George F. Harding, Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Kimball, Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson, and Charles H. and Mary F. S. Worcester collections

Reference Number

2005.49

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/184371/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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