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Byzantine School

The Nativity c.1400-1500

Panel | 20.7 x 17.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 403381

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  • The term 'Byzantine' is used to refer to the art which emanated from the Eastern Christian Empire from the fourth century onwards, the capital of which was Byzantium or Constantinople, now Istanbul in Turkey. Although the term can often refer to a style, rather than a geographic place, Byzantine painting is recognisable by its formulaic appearance, highly-stylised figures and rich colours.

    As is often found in comparable paintings of Eastern origin, this Nativity scene takes place in a mountainous area in which a dark cave - inspired by the accounts of Jesus' birth in the Apocryphal Gospels - is at the centre of the composition. This setting, as the location of Christ's birth, foreshadows the rock-cut tomb of Christ's subsequent burial and Resurrection. Although taking place at different times, it is not unusual to see the individual narrative episodes depicted alongside one another, as seen here. The rocky terrain is used to separate the scenes, and to lead the eye around the picture. The Virgin Mary, the largest and most dominant figure in the composition, is seated at the very centre. She gestures to the new-born Christ who lies swaddled in the manager, attended by an ox and ass, and adored by a court of six attendant angels above. On the left, the three Kings follow the star, which shines upon the holy infant, while the shepherds on the hillside receive news of Jesus' birth from the Angel Gabriel, in the upper right corner.

    At the lower left, two midwives wash the infant Christ. The water is held in an object that resembles a baptismal font, which foretells Jesus' own baptism to come. Opposite, Joseph explains the mystery of the Nativity to two elders. His staff points towards the explanatory inscription below, written in Greek, as though for the benefit of both the elders, and the viewer.

    This small and intimately-sized panel could have perhaps been used for private, personal devotion. A suggestive sign of this function can be detected in a concentrated area of small cracks (known as crizzling) found to the right of the Virgin's head, which was probably caused by the heat of a votive candle placed directly in front of the panel.

    Before painting and gilding could even begin, the panel would have been prepared, as is typical, with gesso, and a thin layer of canvas, now visible around the panel's edges. Gold leaf would have been applied first to areas such as the haloes and the background in the upper right corner, while decorative gold details such as those found on the hems of robes and in the Angel Gabriel's wings would have been applied with an adhesive (known as a mordant) after the painting stage. The panel has been painted using tempera, a mixture of egg yolk and colour pigment, which has been layered in places to create textured passages as found in the central tree. Although this picture has in the past been attributed to the Greek School (1940s), and is currently given to the Byzantine School, the wooden panel itself is constructed according to a method in fact often found in Russian icons, with two supportive horizontal battens embedded into the reverse.
    Provenance

    One of the group of Byzantine works from the 77 paintings belonging to Prince Ludwig von Oettingen-Wallerstein (1791-1870), which were first offered to Prince Albert in 1847 as security for a loan and came into his possession by default (no 7 in Waagen’s catalogue of 1854); 25 of them were accepted by the National Gallery in 1863.

  • Medium and techniques

    Panel

    Measurements

    20.7 x 17.0 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)

    32.8 x 22.7 x 3.4 cm (frame, external)

  • Alternative title(s)

    The Life of Christ


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