Mystic Nativity
1500 · Oil on canvas · The National Gallery, London
The whole painting, uncropped, on a printed cream mat with its title beneath.
Museum-quality archival paper: heavyweight, acid-free, resists yellowing
- Printed to order, arrives in 4–9 business days
- Arrives perfect or we reprint it, free
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About this work
- Artist
- Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445–1510)
- Year
- 1500
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 108.6 × 74.9 cm
- Collection
- The National Gallery, London
- Movement
- Renaissance
Mary kneels before the Christ Child under a thatched shelter, with the ox and donkey behind her and Joseph crouched beside her, head bowed. Three angels in white, pink and green kneel on the roof, and twelve more dance in a ring beneath an open gold dome of heaven, holding olive branches hung with crowns. On the left, the Three Kings come forward; on the right, shepherds kneel. In the foreground, three angels embrace three men, while small devils flee into cracks in the rocks. Sandro Botticelli painted it in 1500. A Greek inscription across the top, written in his own voice, refers to the troubles of Italy and reads them through the Book of Revelation. The canvas is signed and dated. The National Gallery in London bought it in 1878.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Angels in pink, white and green against a deep blue sky and a gold dome, above a green, rocky foreground. A tall picture for a stairway, entryway or dining room at Christmas, paired with Botticelli's The Adoration of the Magi; a dark wood frame suits the gold.
Size, framing & materials
- Style
- Renaissance painting
- Era
- 15th century (1500)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- dining room, hallway or entryway, living room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed. See it to scale on your wall →
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; dark wood warms it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
- Restored in-house from the original painting, cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution
- Museum-quality archival paper: heavyweight, acid-free, resists yellowing
- Framed option: wood frame in black or dark wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size
- Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen
