By Paul Dunwell, writing for EasyFrame
© Copyright EasyFrame 2019
This article is about how great artists have celebrated Crimble, capturing for posterity their vision of events recounted in the Bible (many of which are, of course, corroborated by contemporaneous accounts).
Any list, any selection, is going to be a bit arbitrary, but let's go for a Top 10 as follows (and, because nobody else seems to have ever had the wit to do it, let's put them in chronological order - not by the date they were painted, but in respect of the scenes they depict).
It's worth mentioning that many of these works were created for church congregations who didn't understand the Latin used in services. But they could understand, and marvel at, a picture.
1. Fra Angelico's 'The Annunciation'
2. Philippe de Champaigne's 'The Dream of St. Joseph'
3. Hugo van der Goes's 'Mary and Joseph on the Way to Bethlehem'
4. Pieter Breugel the Elder's 'The Census at Bethlehem'
5. Paul Gauguin's 'Baby (Nativity of Tahitian Christ)'
6. Taddeo Gaddi's 'Annunciation to the Shepherds'
7. Guido Reni's 'The Adoration of the Shepherds'
8. Albrecht Dürer's 'The Adoration of the Magi'
9. Peter Paul Reubens's 'The Massacre of the Innocents'
10. Orazio Gentileschi's 'Rest on the Flight to Egypt'
'The Annunciation', a fresco probably painted in the early 1440s during the early Renaissance, is in Florence's Convent of San Marco which the Medici family rebuilt at that time. Fra Angelico, an Italian-born Dominican monk, executed (or personally supervised the executions) around 50 pieces onsite. But 'The Annunciation', depicting the Archangel Gabriel telling the Virgin Mary that she is to bear a child, is the best-known of them all.
Philippe de Champaigne was a Belgian 17th century artist who was born into poverty but ended up painting Cardinal Richelieu. In 'The Dream of St. Joseph' he depicted Christ's earthly father Joseph having a dream in which he was told by an unnamed angel that Mary's child was from God. The artist painted this subject several times, but the one here appears to have been executed in around 1643 to hang in a long-since-demolished church in Paris.
Hugo van der Goes was a 15th Century Flemish painter, famous for his use of colour, who heralded an era of realism in Italian Renaissance art. Many of his drawings survive to this day, but most paintings appear to have been lost. This particular work was painted in 1475 and depicts a dismounted Virgin Mary being helped through rocky terrain by her concerned husband Joseph.
Pieter Breugel the Elder was a Flemish artist working during the Renaissance. He is renowned for being rather rebellious in that he was happy to depict peasants in his work when most artists depicted the rich patrons who employed and/or subsidised them. 'The Census at Bethlehem' (also known as 'The Numbering at Bethlehem') was painted in 1566. The artist was unlikely to have known that snow is uncommon in this part of Palestine owing to its dryness.
This allegorical painting, executed in 1896 during the French artist's second spell in Polynesia, is a post-Impressionist nod to the local culture. Gauguin was, of course, a voyeur responsible for a lot of nudes. And he was certainly involved with under-age girls. So I guess we can be pleased that 'Baby (Nativity of Tahitian Christ)' is not more contentious than it is!
Taddeo Gaddi was a medieval Florentine painter and architect, said to be Giotto's most talented students. 'Annunciation to the Shepherds' was painted around 1330. It convincingly depicts the blinding light described in the Bible and is striking because this came in an era when nobody had hitherto been depicting shadows.
Guido Reni was an Italian from Bologna who painted during the Baroque period, usually (though not always) religious subjects and often in classical style. This altarpiece, a massive 5 metres tall, was painted in 1640 and a couple of years before the artist's death.
Albrecht Dürer, said to be the most capable German artist of the Renaissance, was commissioned by Frederick the Wise to paint 'The Adoration of the Magi' in 1504. It hung at the castle chapel in Wittenberg for 13 years before, yards away, Luther nailed his theses to the door and started the Reformation that led to the Protestant church. Dürer and Luther later became friends.
Christmas has a down-side. As the New Testament relates, Herod the Great, at that time King of Judea, ordered the execution of all male children around Bethlehem who were under two years of age. Warned of this, Mary and Joseph had already escaped with Jesus. Peter Paul Reubens, a 17th century Flemish Baroque painter, depicted the slaughter they evaded in 1612.
Orazio Gentileschi was a Tuscan-born Mannerist-turned-Naturalist painter during the late Renaissance. He was, curiously, often hired to add the figures to scenes painted by others. 'Rest on the Flight to Egypt' was painted in 1628, and recounts how Joseph followed the instructions he'd had in dream to flee into an Arab area (despite the family being being Jewish) for safety. Needless to say, the flight into Egypt was a lifesaver. But - and not many people realise this - it was over 4,000 miles away.
In summary the Christmas story has already been celebrated for a couple of millennia, and the birth of Jesus Christ will doubtless continue to be an occasion when his life and teachings, his exhortation to humanity to treat each other well, will at least be temporarily observed.
You can join in by giving away any of the works described here, all of which can be sourced quickly online as unframed prints.
Any good framers will be able to show you a vast range of different solutions and advise on what might be the most suitable given the work and its proposed location.
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Article Posted: 17/12/2019 14:14:02