Sandro BotticelliItalian, 1445–1510The Mystical Nativity
May one see it?
Unknown
The National Gallery
London, United Kingdom
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
The Mystical Nativity is a modern name given to an oil painting on canvas executed c. 1500–1501 by the Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli that is held in the National Gallery collection in London. It is his only signed work and has an unusual iconography for a painting of the Nativity. Other aspects of the work are unusual as well.
Read on
The Greek inscription by the painter at the top of the painting translates as: 'This painting, at the end of the year 1500, in the troubles of Italy, I, Alessandro, in the half-time after the time, painted, according to the eleventh [chapter] of Saint John, in the second woe of the Apocalypse, during the release of the devil for three and a half years; then he shall be bound in the twelfth [chapter] and we shall see [him buried] as in this picture'. Botticelli believed he was living during the Great Tribulation, and possibly due to the upheavals in Europe at the time, may have been predicting Christ's millennium as stated in the Book of Revelation.
The painting is connected with the influence of Girolamo Savonarola, whose influence appears in a number of late paintings by Botticelli, although the scene depicted in the painting may have been specified by those commissioning the work.
The painting uses the earlier medieval convention of showing the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus larger both than other figures and their surroundings rather than following the advances seen in early Renaissance art; this distortion was certainly created deliberately for effect, as earlier works by Botticelli use correct graphical perspective.
The painting is not to be confused with the Mystical Nativity or Adoration in the Forest by Filippo Lippi, now in Berlin.
Particulars
- Accession number
- NG1034
In the catalog
Sources
- Wikidata
- Image: The National Gallery — Sandro Botticelli · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Meanwhile, in the life of Sandro Botticelli
The whole life1490–1498
Savonarola's preaching and Botticelli
From 1490 Savonarola preached in Florence; according to Vasari, Botticelli became his follower, gave up painting and fell into hardship. Modern historians reject this, and the extent of the preacher's influence remains uncertain — Botticelli's brother Simone was the clearer follower.
1498
The execution of Savonarola
In 1498 Savonarola was seized, accused of heresy and sentenced to death; these events shook Botticelli deeply.
late 1502
Isabella d'Este prefers to wait for Perugino
In late 1502 Isabella d'Este wanted a painting done in Florence; her agent Francesco Malatesta reported that Perugino was away, Filippino Lippi was booked for six months, but Botticelli was free to start at once and ready to oblige. She preferred to wait for Perugino's return.
