The Nativity at Night
c. 1490 · Oil on oak · 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
- Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1465–c. 1495)
- Year
- c. 1490
- Medium
- Oil on oak
- Original size
- 34 × 25.3 cm
- Collection
- The National Gallery, London
- Movement
- Northern Renaissance
The newborn Christ lies in a wooden manger and is the main source of light in a dark stable. Mary bends over him with her hands joined, a group of small angels kneels and prays on the left, and Joseph stands back in the shadows on the right. An ox and a donkey look on from behind the manger. Through a gap in the wall, shepherds sit by a fire on a dark hillside and look up at a shining angel. Geertgen tot Sint Jans, who worked in Haarlem, painted the small oak panel around 1490, probably for private prayer. The idea of a Nativity lit by the Child himself came from two lost night scenes by Hugo van der Goes. The panel was cut down in 1901 and damaged by fire in 1904, and its colours have darkened. The National Gallery in London bought it in 1925.
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
A glowing child in a dark brown stable, with Mary's white veil and Joseph's red robe the main colour. Hang it above a mantel or in a quiet hallway for the holiday season beside Giorgione's The Adoration of the Shepherds, in a dark wood frame.
Size, framing & materials
- Style
- Northern Renaissance painting
- Era
- 15th century (c. 1490)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, living room, dining 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
