The Nativity

Fra Angelico painted this Nativity in the 1420s, early in his career, before he entered the Dominican convent of San Domenico in Fiesole. He was still a lay painter in Florence, working in the workshop of Lorenzo Monaco, and his style was developing from the International Gothic toward the clarity of the early Renaissance. The Christ Child lies in the center of the painting, on a white cloth spread on the ground. The Virgin Mary kneels at the left, her hands folded in prayer. Saint Joseph kneels at the right, his head bowed. Behind them, an ox and an ass peer out from a dark cave. Two shepherds arrive from the right, one pointing toward the child. In the upper left, angels appear in the sky, their robes pink and blue against the gold background. The painting is wide, almost two meters across, and the composition is built in a horizontal format that was unusual for Italian altarpieces of this period. The figures are small in relation to the panel, with the landscape and the architectural elements taking up as much space as the figures. The gold background is traditional, but the figures themselves are painted with a new naturalism: the Virgin's robe has volume, the child's body has weight, the animals have individual character. Fra Angelico was born Guido di Pietro around 1395. He took his vows as a Dominican friar around 1423 and was given the name Fra Giovanni. He was called Fra Angelico by his contemporaries because of his piety and the angelic quality of his paintings. He worked in Florence and Rome, painting frescoes for San Marco and the Vatican, and he died in 1455. Tempera on panel, 87 by 173 centimeters, roughly 34 by 68 inches. Fra Angelico used egg tempera, building the colors in thin layers on a white gesso ground. The gold background is gold leaf, applied over a bole of red clay and burnished to a shine. The blue of the Virgin's robe is ultramarine, made from lapis lazuli, the most expensive pigment of the period. This print works in a living room or dining room during the Christmas season, or year-round in a room where the devotional subject is appreciated. The wide horizontal format suits a long wall or a space above a sideboard. The gold and blue palette pairs with cream walls, dark wood, and brass fixtures. The 18x24 size gives the figures and the landscape enough room to read. The painting is in the Indianapolis Museum of Art.