Many famous artists have portrayed the nativity from the early middle ages until now. The earliest paintings we know date from the beginning of the 4th century. Mary was the center of these early images – lying in the grotto of the nativity wearing her blue garment and crowned with a large halo. Ox and donkey were there and the shepherds. Joseph didn’t become a consistent part of the nativity scene until the 6th century. Let’s watch how this scene develops through the centuries.
1. Unknown Master, Nativity Scene in Castelseprio (9th century)
Fresco in Castelseprio
2. Unknown Master, Nativity Scene in Cappello Palatina Palermo (1150)
Cappella Palatina
3. Giotto di Bondone, Nativity Scene in the Lower Church of San Francesco d’Assisi (1304 und 1306)
Giotto, San Francesco d’Assisi
4. Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel (1308-11)
Duccio, The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel
5. Unknown Master, Byzantine Fresco in the Peribleptos-Church Mistra, Greece (mid-14th century)
Fresco from Mistra, Greece
6. Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi (1423)
Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi
7. Rogier van der Weyden, Bladelin Triptych (1445-48)
Rogier van der Weyden, Bladelin Triptych
8. Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Nativity (1460)
Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Nativity
9. Piero della Francesca, Nativity (1470-75)
Piero della Francesca, Nativity
10. Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece (c.1475)
Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece
11. Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Birth of Jesus (1484-90)
Geertgen tot Sins Jans, Birth of Jesus
12. Lorenzo Costa, Nativity (1490)
Lorenzo Costa, Nativity
13. Sandro Botticelli, The Mystical Nativity (1500-1501)
Sandro Botticelli, The Mystical Nativity
14. Jan Gossaert, The Adoration of the Kings (1510-15)
Jan Gossaert, The Adoration of the Kings
15. Albrecht Altdorfer, Nativity (c.1513)
Albrecht Altdorfer, Nativity
16. Matthias Grünewald, Concert of Angels and Nativity (1515)
Matthias Grünewald, Concert of Angels and Nativity
17. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Anbetung der Heiligen drei Könige (1564)
Pieter Bruegel d.Ä., Anbetung der Heiligen Drei Könige
18. El Greco, The Nativity (1603-05)
El Greco, The Nativity
19. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco (1609)
Caravaggio, Nativity with San Lorenzo and San Francesco
20. Georges de La Tour, L’adoration des bergers (c.1645)
Georges da La Tour, L’adoration des bergers
21. Rembrandt, Adoration of the Shepherds (1646)
22. Nicholas Poussin, Nativité (c.1653)
Nicholas Poussin, Nativité
23. Arthur Hughes, Nativity (1857-58)
Arthur Hughes, Nativity
24. Paul Gauguin, Geburt Christi, des Gottessohnes (1896)
Paul Gauguin, Nativity