"Nativity" ------
Gerrit (or Gerard) van Honthorst --------
(Utrecht 1592–1656) workshop -------
Oil on canvas ----
Gilded wood frame ----
canvas 112 x 95 frame 124 x 107 ----
Excellent condition ----
The painting in question, created in the first part of the 17th century, depicts a very elegant "Nativity", that is, the most important and celebrated event of Christianity. The scene is described impeccably with the characters very close to the viewer, who has the sensation of participating in the magical event.
The Holy Family receives the visit of two adoring shepherds with their gifts, a lamb clearly visible in the foreground and two dark-feathered hens.
The author avoids the traditional composition described in a wide-ranging and character-rich manner, opting for an essential and collected group, thus managing to create an atmosphere of extraordinary intimacy.
Very interesting is the choice of the pyramidal composition scheme where the perfect balance is broken by the half-hidden face of Saint Joseph caught in a pensive and detached attitude.
The true protagonist of the painting is a magnificent Child attached to the Virgin's breast, with his eyes closed.
At the center of the canvas, he receives the adoration of the Mother and the two shepherds who admire him with their gazes lowered towards Him, full of devotion and wonder.
The plays of light that strike the Madonna and Child more decisively, making the two figures stand out on the canvas, are extraordinarily effective and constitute the main pictorial prerogative of van Honthorst. His great ability to create the volumes of the characters thanks to the plays of light and shadow is well present in this painting, where the different illumination of the figures also immediately reveals who are the protagonists and the supporting actors of the scene.
Biography:
Gerrit (or Gerard) van Honthorst, also known as Gherardo delle Notti (Utrecht, 4 November 1592 – Utrecht, 27 April 1656), was one of the most celebrated Dutch painters of the 17th century.
He initially trained with his father, a decorative painter, and then became a student of Abraham Bloemaert.
After completing his apprenticeship, he went to Rome, as was customary for every Nordic painter who aspired to a complete education, where he studied the great masters and ancient art.
In Rome, he stayed at the palace of Vincenzo Giustiniani, where he painted Christ before the High Priest (now at the National Gallery in London).
His Roman patron had an important collection of works of art painted by various artists such as Caravaggio and the Carracci brothers, with whom Honthorst was able to become acquainted.
He was mainly struck by the painting of Caravaggio, which inspired much of his subsequent works until he was indicated as a Caravaggesque painter.
He specialized in interior painting with fascinating scenes described "by the light of night" characterized by extraordinary effects of artificial light, a fact that earned him the epithet of Gherardo delle Notti.
His popularity in the Netherlands was such that he opened, in addition to the studio in Utrecht, a branch in The Hague, where he painted portraits of members of the court.
A large number of disciples and assistants were employed in his workshops to satisfy the continuous requests for his works.
Honthorst was a prolific artist and many are his workshop works. The most evocative are those in which he cultivates the Caravaggesque style, often tavern scenes with musicians, gamblers and people eating, as well as several depictions of the "Nativity".
He was very skilled in the use of the chiaroscuro technique, often painting scenes illuminated by a single candle.
The painting published here, also of excellent pictorial rendering and considerable visual effect, should be placed precisely in the production of his workshop.
All photographic details of the work on the private website link:
https://www.antichitaischia.it/it/prodotto/-nativita---
