As the first surprising element for the spectator of today, Philippe de Champaigne shows Jesus Christ, in swaddling clothes as he is described in the Luke's Gospel. This also corresponds to XVIIth century reality. At that time, it was considered that babies had to be bound up tightly in cloths to avoid softening of their limbs!
Champaigne is very simple in his representation of the scene. He stresses the feeling of contemplation that emerges from this episode by focusing on the essential.
It shows only the Nativity, whereas the painters of the time usually added in the Announcement to the shepherds when they painted this scene. The Announcement is the moment when an angel comes to announce the birth of Jesus to a group of shepherds. To avoid diverting the attention of the viewer of the Holy Family, it shows only the angel leaving to spread the news. But there is no trace of the shepherds!
The characters are therefore kept to a minimum: Jesus Christ, Mary, Joseph and a few angels. We can scarcely see the ox, which comes to warm the newborn with its breath, and the ass lost in the depths of the stable. Can you make it out?
Inventory number: P. 162
Detail : In the foreground, Joseph's walking stick reminds us that the Nativity is only one stage of the family's journey to Bethlehem.
As the first surprising element for the spectator of today, Philippe de Champaigne shows Jesus Christ, in swaddling clothes as he is described in the Luke's Gospel. This also corresponds to XVIIth century reality. At that time, it was considered that babies had to be bound up tightly in cloths to avoid softening of their limbs!
Champaigne is very simple in his representation of the scene. He stresses the feeling of contemplation that emerges from this episode by focusing on the essential.
It shows only the Nativity, whereas the painters of the time usually added in the Announcement to the shepherds when they painted this scene. The Announcement is the moment when an angel comes to announce the birth of Jesus to a group of shepherds. To avoid diverting the attention of the viewer of the Holy Family, it shows only the angel leaving to spread the news. But there is no trace of the shepherds!
The characters are therefore kept to a minimum: Jesus Christ, Mary, Joseph and a few angels. We can scarcely see the ox, which comes to warm the newborn with its breath, and the ass lost in the depths of the stable. Can you make it out?
Inventory number: P. 162
Detail : In the foreground, Joseph's walking stick reminds us that the Nativity is only one stage of the family's journey to Bethlehem.
