The Nativity

The Nativity is an oil painting by Italian Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca, dated to 1470–75. The painting depicts a scene from the birth of Jesus, and is one of the latest surviving paintings made by the artist before his death in 1492. Held by the National Gallery in London, it measures . It is a popular image on Christmas cards. Description The nativity scene has been translocated from Bethlehem to a clear summer day on a hill overlooking the Tuscan landscape, with a winding river to the left, and the urban landscape of a fortified town to the right, perhaps Piero della Francesca's birthplace of Borgo Sansepolcro. The painting was made for the artist's family palace in his home town, originally thought to be an altarpiece for a private chapel, but now understood to have been hung in the bedchamber. In the centre is a ruined stone stable with sloping wooden roof, occupied by an ass and an ox. The dilapidated stable is painted at an awkwardly skewed angle on a rocky hilltop, perhaps intended to reflect the precarious circumstances of Jesus's birth. In the foreground, the infant Jesus is lying naked on the folds of the Virgin Mary's blue cloak spread on the ground, reflecting a vision of Saint Bridget of Sweden from the 14th century, widely known in the 15th century. The Christ Child's arms are raised towards his serene mother, white-faced and light-haired, who is kneeling alongside, with her slender fingers steepled in prayer. She is wearing a blue gown with red cuffs and bodice, and a long blue cloak, with a light veil over her hair, and pearls in her hair and on her necklace.