Shop art print and framed art La Nativité by Philippe de Champaigne

The Nativity is an oil painting on canvas produced around 1643 by Philippe de Champaigne. It has been in the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille since 1804. Painted around 1643 at the request of Jacques Tubeuf, Superintendent of Finances, to decorate the altar of the chapel assigned to him in the Oratoire church in Paris, the painting was seized by the revolutionary commission and transported to the Petits Augustins depot, then to the rue de Beaune depot. In 1801, it was given to the newly-created Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lille. The painting is divided into two parts. At the top, two angels on a rostrum of clouds and cherub heads observe the scene. Below, Mary and Joseph, accompanied by the ox and the donkey, barely visible, are in adoration before the Child, wrapped in swaddling clothes as described in Luke's Gospel. In the background, a shining angel flies over the countryside, announcing the advent of the Messiah to the shepherds. In the foreground, a gourd and a walking stick remind us that the Nativity is just one stage in the family's journey to Bethlehem to take the census. Lorenzo Pericolo points out that Champaigne's treatment of the Nativity takes an old-fashioned approach, going back to the Middle Ages, by depicting neither the kings nor the shepherds who had come to adore Jesus. He saw in this the influence of the thinking of Cardinal de Bérulle, founder of the Oratory society and church, for which the painting was intended. The latter expressed a very particular [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the classicism style.

 

« La Nativité » is kept at Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille, France.

 

Find the full description of La Nativité by Philippe de Champaigne on Wikipedia.