Nativity (Christus)

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Nativity, c. 1460s. Oil on wood, 127.6 x 94.9cm (50.2 x 37.4in), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

The Nativity is a c. 1460s oil-on-wood Early Netherlandish painting by Petrus Christus, considered one of his more important pieces. The nativity scene is surrounded and enclosed by a grisaille painted archway – made to appear sculpted – filled with groups of figures symbolizing that the birth of Jesus Christ is a progression in the "Fall and Redemption of humankind".[1]

Christus was influenced by the first generation of Netherlandish painters, especially Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden. In this work Christus displays the simplicity and naturalism characteristic the art of the period. The archway as a framing device is a typically van der Weyden motif,[2] which Christus may have borrowed the Miraflores Altarpiece. Maryan Ainsworth describes Christus' Nativity as immensely complex. The need for Jesus's absolution and redemption, resulting froms Adam and Eve's origional sins -as shown on the arch- begins with the child's birth.[3]

Art historians are uncertain of the date Christus painted the piece, and have debated the point for a number of decade. Generally a later date of c. 1460s is now more accepted than the previously suggested date of c. early 1450s. The Nativity was among a number of Christus' pieces exhibited at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1994 before which it underwent extensive restorations.

Description

Mary and Joseph are dressed as common burghers or peasants in plain contemporary garb, emphasized by Joseph's simple pattens, which he has removed from his feet as he stands on holy ground.[2][4] Solemnly they stare at the figure of the Christ child, lying on Mary's robe, before the annunciation of his birth to the shepherds.[5] Mary's features, according to Maryan Ainsworth, show a softness and sweetness more characteristic of Christus' later paintings and remarkably similar to the Mary in his Madonna of the Dry Tree.[3]

Background detail (with crackle pattern apparent) showing a 15th-century Netherlandish town with two domed structures that symbolize Jerusalem

Four shepherds dressed in 15th-century clothing lean against the back wall of the barn chatting amiably.[3] The background shows what appears to be a typical 15th-century Netherlandish town, although the two domed structures in the center likely symbolise Jerusalem, and thus Christ's Passion.[1]

Christus placed the figures on holy ground in the center of the pictorial space. Mary, mother of Jesus, Saint Joseph, the Christ Child and four angels are positioned in an area partitioned by the archway at the front and the wall at the rear.[6] The truss of the roofs shed form a series of triangles; they connect with the lines joining the base of the pedestals to the crossbeams. These surround the the gathering of the Holy Family, whose form makes up an inverse pattern. According to Lawrence Steefel, "the detail participates in an almost emblematic pattern of repeated triangles which establish a rhyme scheme above and below, of roof structure and figure disposition."[7]

Rogier van der Weyden's c. 1440s Miraflores Altarpiece has a similar archway motif.

Netherlandish painters often created spatial and temporal borders intended to delinate the earthly and heavenly spheres; a technique often achived through the placement of frames and arches.[8] In this work, the archway is filled with seemingly carved biblical scenes, a motif borrowed from van der Weyden. If Christus's Nativity was painted in the 1440s or 1450s then he probably imitated the earlier painter's Miraflores Altarpiece.[6] Charles Sterling, however, thinks it more likely he imitated van der Weyden's c. 1455 Altar of St. John, which wasn't completed until after Rogier's return from Italy in the 1450s.[9]

Iconography

Christus' Nativity both conveys the Old Testament warning of the cost of sin and punishment and the New Testament values of redemption and sacrifice.[10] It is rich with Christian iconography.[6] The arch contains groups of figures representing scenes from the Book of Genesis, incuding the Fall of Man and Original Sin, thereby pointing to the reason for Christ's birth. The archivolt contains six biblical scenes – two showing Adam and Eve and four of Cain and Abel. The first depicts the expulsion from paradise followed by a scene showing Adam tilling the soil. These are followed by the Cain and Abel scenes: their sacrifice to God; Cain slaying Abel; God appearing to Abel; and Cain founding his race.[11]

Below are two pillars. Adam stands atop the one to the left and Eve atop the right; they are naked, resembling Adam and Eve on the far left and right panels of Jan van Eyck's Ghent Altarpiece. At the base of each pillar crouches a figure holding the weight on its shoulders and preventing it from falling.[2] The corner spandrels on the archway each show a warrior, one signifying anger, the other revenge, representing the strife and sin that was to end after Christ's advent.[12]

Its setting represents the Mass – the angels are clothed in eucharistic vestments, with the angel on the far right dressed in a deacon's cope.[5] None wear the celebrant's chasuble, which suggests Christ is the priest.[1] The sheds roof has been described as a ciborium over an altar, and a later addition to the painting, perhaps in the 1600s, since removed, was a paten on which the infant lay, more clearly showing Jesus as the Eucharistic host.[3]

What appears to be a tuft of grass grows on the center truss, directly above the holy figures and in line with the infant's body. Steefel writes the positioning and the nature of the small shrub shows that in this painting Christus followed a program of disguised iconography. The tuft of grass adds to the naturalistic, rustic setting. It may well also symbolize the tree of life.[7][13] It perhaps symbolizes Christus' connection with the "Confraternity of the Dry Tree", which he joined in 1462,[14] probably because, as Ainsworth writes, it enjoyed among its member the Burgundian nobility, and members of Bruges' upper classes.[15]

Dating and condition

Nativity, Petrus Christus, c. 1450, Groeningemuseum, Bruges

Art historians are uncertain about the exact dating of the Nativity; Ainsworth thinks it is almost certainly one of Christus's later paintings. She bases this on its use of perspective, and its assimilation of van Eyck's and van der Weyden's influence. She considers it, along with his Kansas City Holy Family, to be two of the more important pieces in his recognised oeuvre.[16] His earlier Nativity (probably 1450s) lacks certain stylistic elements found in this work, though it too shows an ability to handle central perspective.[2]

Detail of the painting before 1994 restoration

The work has suffered paint loss particularly in the areas where the wood panels were joined, and in various parts of the crackle pattern, especially around Joseph's shoulder. Mary's robe has been overpainted, perhaps to restore more extensive paint loss. The paint layers and underlying support are considered to be in generally good condition. Infrared reflectography has revealed an underdrawing with series of intersecting lines,[1] showing the orthogonals Christus established for the painting's composition.[3]

The painting was one of 13 shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 1994 exhibition, "Petrus Christus: Renaissance Master of Bruges". In preparation for the exhibition the painting underwent significant restorations. At an undetermined date, probably when the painting was in Spain, a gold paten had been added to Mary's robe, holding the Christ child, and halos had been added for Mary and Jesus. These were removed and the painting restored to its original state.[17]

Provenance

The work was probably meant for an altarpiece, given its size. It seems tom have been designed as a standalone work rather than the centerpiece of a triptych.[2] At least half of Christus' known patrons were Italian or Spanish, and he often changed his style to suit their desire.[15] The Nativity may have been commissioned by a Spanish or Iberian family, and might have been a single piece in a retable which would have consisted of multiple panels, paintings and sculptures.[2]

The painting is today housed in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It was bought in December 1936 from the Duveen Brothers by the Mellon Charitable Trust who bequeathed it to the gallery the following year. Previous owners include Señora O. Yturbe of Madrid, and Franz M. Zatzenstein of Berlin. Zatzenstein founded the Matthiesen Gallery in Berlin; he sold the painting to the Duveen brothers in 1930.[1]

Gallery

  • The left archway shows Adam on a pedestal below carved scenes from Genesis.

  • Two angels in vestments kneel in adoration to the left of Mary.

  • Angels in vestments adoring the Christ Child

  • Detail of the right archway showing Eve on a pedestal, eating forbidden fruit

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "The Nativity". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved December 23, 2013
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "The Nativity". Web Gallery of Art. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Ainsworth (1994), 161
  4. ↑ Panofsky p. 203
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ainsworth (1994), 158
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Birkmeyer (1961), 103
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Steefel (1962), 137
  8. ↑ Chapuis (1998), 18 Early Netherlandish Painting: Shifting Perspectives, p. 18, at Google Books
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Ainsworth (1994), 158-161
  11. ↑ Birkmeyer (1961), 105
  12. ↑ Silver (1982), 21
  13. ↑ Hand and Wolff p. 46 n. 6 Early Netherlandish Painting, p. 46, at Google Books
  14. ↑ Sterling (1971), 19
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Ainsworth (1998), 34
  16. ↑ Ainsworth (1994), 62
  17. ↑ Campbell (1994), 1039

Sources

  • Ainsworth, Maryan. "Intentional Alterations of Early Netherlandish Paintings". Metropolitan Museum Journal , Vol. 40, (2005) , pp. 51–65
  • Ainsworth, Maryan. Petrus Christus. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art (1994). ISBN 978-0-81096-482-2
  • Ainsworth, Maryan. "The Business of Art: Patrons, Clients and Art Markets". Maryan Ainsworth, et al. (eds.) From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art (1998). ISBN 0-87099-871-4.
  • Birkmeyer, Karl M. "The Arch Motif in Netherlandish Painting of the Fifteenth Century: A Study in Changing Religious Imagery". The Art Bulletin, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Jun. 1961), p. 103
  • Campbell, Lorne. "Petrus Christus. New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art". The Burlington Magazine , Vol. 136, No. 1098 (Sep., 1994) , pp. 639–641
  • Chapuis, Julien. "Early Netherlandish Painting: Shifting Perspectives". Maryan Ainsworth, et al. (eds.), From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art (1998). ISBN 0-87099-871-4
  • Hand, John Oliver; Martha Wolff. "Early Netherlandish Painting (Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue) ". Washington: Natl Gallery of Art, 1987. ISBN 978-0894680939
  • Panofsky, Erwin. Early Netherlandish Painting. London: Harper Collins, 1971. ISBN 0-06-430002-1
  • Silver, Larry. "Early Northern European Paintings". Bulletin (St. Louis Art Museum), New Series, Vol. 16, No. 3, (1982), pp. 1–47
  • Steefel, Lawrence. "An Unnoticed Detail in Petrus Christus' Nativity in the National Gallery, Washington". The Art Bulletin, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Sep., 1962), pp. 237–238
  • Sterling, Charles. "Observations on Petrus Christus". The Art Bulletin, Volume 53, No. 1, March 1971


External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Washington Nativity by Petrus Christus.
Paintings
  • Exeter Madonna (Virgin and Child with Saint Barbara and Jan Vos) (c 1444)
  • Lamentation (Pietà) (c. 1444)
  • St. John the Baptist in a Landscape (attributed, c 1445)
  • Ecce Homo (c 1445)
  • Portrait of a Carthusian (1446)
  • Portrait of Edward Grimston, (1446)
  • Saint Eligius (1449)
  • Man of Sorrows (c 1450)
  • Annunciation (attributed, c 1450)
  • Nativity (1450) (c 1450)
  • Virgin and Child in an Archway (c 1450-55)
  • Portrait of a Kneeling Canon (c 1455)
  • Portrait of a Male Donor and Portrait of a Female Donor (triptych wings, c 1455)
  • Madonna Enthroned with Saints jerome and Francis (1457)
  • St. Elizabeth Presenting Isabella of Portugal, (c 1457-60)
  • Virgin and Child Enthroned on a Porch (c 1460-65)
  • Crucifixion
  • Madonna of the Dry Tree (c 1465)
  • Nativity (c 1465)
  • Portrait of a Man (c 1465)
  • Death of the Virgin (c 1460-65)
  • Portrait of a Young Girl (c 1465-70)
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