The Art of Advent: Dec 2

Behind door number two is a countdown of the top 10 nativity scenes in art by Ilaria Bevan. These ten paintings show the amazing variation (and many of the repeating motifs) that have been injected into scenes of Christ’s birth throughout art history. From the early Renaissance to the twenty-tens, Ilaria highlights some of the most incredible nativity scenes, reminding us of how this little thing called Christmas began - in style. 

No. 1: Giotto, Nativity, 1305

Painted by Giotto for the Scrovegni Chapel, in Padua, this Nativity scene comprises  part of one of the finest fresco cycles dedicated to the life of the Virgin Mary in Western Art History. The chapel and its decoration was commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni to serve as his family’s private oratory, a funerary monument for himself and his wife, and act as a gift allowing access to heaven post-mortem. Although this scene shows some elements common in the Byzantine painting style, Giotto has charged the scene with an unprecedented sense of naturalism. His figures are not stylised or not elongated, but rather appear three-dimensional with detailed gestures and facial expressions. Moreover, he has added some perspective and foreshortening to create a convincing space in which the Madonna, Joseph, the farm animals and the Christ child rest. 

No. 2: Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Magi, 1475-6

Botticelli’s interpretation of this Adoration scene is certainly a masterpiece of Renaissance painting. Made early in his career, Botticelli has imbued the scene with great detail, particularly seen in the stone and wood architecture that frame of Madonna and Child. Alongside the religious characters, Botticelli has also included portraits of several members of the Medici family such as Cosimo de’Medici and his two sons, Piero and Giovanni. As the most influential family in Florence at that time it seems only appropriate that Botticelli has reimagined these unforgettable personalities as the three Magi who have come to honour the Christ child. 

No. 3: Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece, 1475-8

This altarpiece, depicting the moment after Christ’s birth, adorns the main altar of the Sant'Egidio church, attached to the Santa Maria Nuova Hospital, Florence. The patron Tommaso Portinari, whose name supplies the title of the triptych, was living in Bruges at the time of the picture’s inception by Netherlandish painter Hugo van der Goes. By commissioning a Netherlandish native, rather than a Florentine master, to create the altarpiece a new style of art that rivalled the Dutch style emerged in Italy. Although the scene is spread across three panels, everything centers around the nativity - the Madonna and Christ child is at the heart of the picture, and all the other figures turn towards them in solemn adoration. 

No. 4: Leonardo da Vinci, Adoration of the Magi, 1481

Commissioned by the Augustinian monks for the high altar of San Donato, Scopeto, this  complex composition presents a scene teeming with figures in a semi-circular arrangement. In the foreground the Magi kneel around the central figures - the Madonna and Child - offering gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold. Behind the figures is a backdrop of ruined buildings with flights of stairs and fighting horses. Despite having worked on this picture for approximately thirty months, it was still incomplete and would be interrupted by Leondardo’s travels to Milan as were other commissions given to him by the Augustinian monks.

No. 5: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Adoration of the Shepherds, 1485

Ghirlandaio’s Adoration of the Shepherds, rendered in tempera medium, is one of the most well known depictions of this biblical scene. Created as the altarpiece of the Sassetti Chapel, consecrated to honour the birth of Christ, the scene perfectly reimagines this Christmas miracle. The procession of shepherds on foot and on horseback lead the eye towards the key figures - the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child accompanied by the picture’s donors. Ghirlandaio has also painted himself into this group and brings the attention of the shepherds and spectators to the Christ Child. Perhaps the most exciting element within the composition is the classical sarcophagus that acts as not only a manger for the ox, but also signifies an ancient prophecy that predicted its importance in the birth of Christ. 

No. 6: Giorgione, The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1510

Despite Giorgione being, undoubtedly, one of the greatest artists working during the Renaissance period, very few works are attributed to him. Adoration of the Shepherds is one such exception. Also known as the Allendale Nativity (after a previous owner) this picture illustrates two passing shepherds who stop to greet the Virgin Mary and Joseph. Giorgione presents the viewer with the very moment they recognise Christ’s sacredness and kneel before him. The composition is split in two: the shepherds in the rustic, natural topography, and Mary and Joseph clad in shimmering draperies inside a dark cave. The figures are all huddled together which makes the scene even more intimate and intense. 

No. 7: Caravaggio, Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco, 1609

Caravaggio’s rendition of this biblical story is tinted with a sense of beautiful melancholy due to  his perfect use of chiaroscuro that dramatizes the scene, but also because of its tragic afterlife. Painted in Palermo, Sicily for the Oratory of Saint Lawrence, the picture was stolen in 1969 and has not been since, making this one of the most significant art crimes in history. Whatever the truth behind this robbery (and the picture’s dubious survival), this picture is a wonderfully moody, intimate portrayal of the Virgin Mary and Christ alongside Saint Lawrence and Saint Francis, who pay their respects to the son of God. 

No. 8: William Blake, The Descent of Peace, c. 1815

Part of a set of sixteen illustrations for John Milton’s nativity ode entitled “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity”, Blake has transformed a subject illustrated by many great Old Masters into a spiritual experience. Attached to stanzas one to three that describe the “winter wild” night Christ was born it is clear that Blake was conscious of Milton’s return to a prophetic tone in his visualisation of the Nativity scene. This is conveyed in his earthy palette of pale blues, greys and red. Additional white accents around the figures, particularly the Christ Child, highlight that neoplatonic elements of the descent of the soul into the body, aptly symbolised by the stable. 

No. 9: Paul Gauguin, Te tamari no atua (The Birth of Christ), 1896

Gaugin’s reimagination of the scene in a non-Western context is particularly striking. Time in Tahiti during the 1890s had a massive impact on Gaugin’s art, the effects of which can be seen in this picture of a sleeping young girl with (presumably) her maid who carries the newborn child. Religious allusions are barely represented except for the extremely pale yellow and green halos that inform the spectator that this is the Virgin Mary and Christ. The warm glow of the interior lighting in the foreground contrasts with the deep grey outlines and the darker background emphasizes the tender qualities of the sleeping mother. 

No. 10: Maria Berrio, Nativity, 2014

Berrio’s collage with torn Japanese washi paper, rhinestones, acrylic and watercolour is an intricate, unique take on such  traditional subject matter. The composition, populated with female figures and various animals including a variety of birds and elephants is extremely provocative and mystical. The heavy patterns add to the psychedelic, surreal elements within this spectacular nightscape. In the centre lies the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child in her lap, both of whom are engulfed in the swathes of red drapery and flock of birds.