The Adoration of the Christ Child
<p>In this joyous imagining of Jesus’s birth, choirs of angels—each with a different musical attribute—fill the stable with celebratory music. The artist elaborated the setting with luxurious red porphyry and green marble architectural features adorned with floral designs called <em>grotteschi</em>. These organic yet fantastical decorative motifs were inspired by the recent excavation of the Domus Aureus, Emperor Nero’s grand, first-century palace in Rome. Here, these details are likely meant to evoke the tradition that Christ’s birth took place in a stable constructed in the ruins of the biblical king David’s palace.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1510
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 98.5 × 76.3 cm (38 3/4 × 30 1/16 in.); Framed: 108 × 86.4 × 9.6 cm (42 1/2 × 34 × 3 3/4 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
Artist
Painting
Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen (Netherlandish, c. 1470/75–by 1533)
Full artist profile →More
More by Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen
Saul and the Witch of Endor
1526 · panel, oil paint (paint)
Salome and the Head of John the Baptist
1524 · panel, oil paint (paint)
Procession of the Counts and Countess of Holland on Horseback: Mary of Burgundy, Maximilian I, Philip the Fair, and Charles V
1518 · Woodcut
Triptych with the Adoration of the Magi (centre panel), the Donor and his Six Sons with St Jerome (inner left wing), the Donor’s Wife and her Seven Daughters with St Catherine of Alexandria (inner right wing), St Christopher (outer left wing) and St Antony Abbot (outer right wing)
1517 · oil paint (paint), panel
Judas Thaddaeus, from Christ and the Apostles
1514 · Woodcut
The Flagellation of Christ and Christ Before Pilate
1514 · woodcut on laid paper
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Year
- 1510
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 98.5 × 76.3 cm (38 3/4 × 30 1/16 in.); Framed: 108 × 86.4 × 9.6 cm (42 1/2 × 34 × 3 3/4 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1510-142785
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified