Christmas is the time of year when Christians celebrate the birth of Christ, recognising in him the Messiah, the son of God, sent to save humankind. The Gospels tell that the Child was born in a stable, with a manger as his cradle, after his parents, Mary and Joseph, had been turned away from every inn where they had sought shelter. This story has captured and inspired the creative imagination of artists throughout time. Thus, the Nativity, together with the subsequent episode in the story, which is the arrival of the Three Wise Men celebrated on the 6th of January, has been depicted, carved and painted in miniature in thousands of different versions, according to the tastes of their period.

The small selection that follows is a journey into the theme of Christmas, through some masterpieces and lesser-known works chosen from the Uffizi Galleries’ collections, which amount to over 300 pieces on the subject of the Nativity or the Adoration of the Magi.

A small map with specific focuses to try out in order to enjoy a visit that is even more special than usual, but also to stop and think about an image that is famous all over the world, an icon that leads to meditate on man deeply, beyond his social status, origin or skin colour.

Please note: each image in this virtual tour may be enlarged for more detailed viewing. 

Adoration of the Magi

1423

Tempera on wood, 301.5 × 283 cm

Uffizi Galleries, Gallery of Statues and Paintings

Inv. 1890 no. 8364

The polyptych was commissioned by Palla Strozzi, a wealthy Florentine merchant, for the chapel of his family in Santa Trinita Church in 1423.

The subject of the Adoration of the Magi was perfectly suitable for the realization of a sumptuous religious scene celebrating the wealth of its patron and the artist’s technical skills.

The narration starts with the three lunettes above, depicting the appearance of the guiding star to the Magi, their journey and arrival in Jerusalem.

A colourful procession, including even exotic animals (a cheetah and two monkeys), is represented in the centre, moving toward the Holy Family.

Surrounded by two elegant maids and St. Joseph, the Madonna with the Child is sitting in front of a wall that resembles a city gate.

The whole scene has a magical atmosphere, created just to celebrate the luxury of the mercantile middle class in Florence.

The predella below consists of three rectangular panels that show the Nativity, the Flight to Egypt and the copy of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple painted by Gaspare Diomede della Bruna in 1903 (the original one is located at the Louvre since the 19th century).

In front of the Child, the oldest of the three Magi is kneeling down crownless while receiving a tender caress on his bare head.

The other two wise men are following him to present their gifts, while a squire is removing the spurs from the youngest one’s boots.

The whole group is dressed in opulent robes decorated with elaborate motives and made of the most precious materials, similar to the ones Palla Strozzi used to trade.

Numerous details, such as the crowns, the halos and the harnesses, show the technical ability of Gentile da Fabriano, both as painter and goldsmith.

The two figures at the centre are the portraits of the patron (the elegant man with the turban and the falcon) and his son Lorenzo (the boy with the red hat).

In the splendid golden frame, various species of flowers are depicted with the peculiar detailed representation of botanical illustrations.

Adoration of the Shepherds (Portinari Triptych)

1478 c.

Oil on wood, 253 x 141 cm

Uffizi Galleries, Gallery of Statues and Paintings

Inv. 1890 nos. 3191-3192-3193

Consisting of three panels, this large painting was painted in Bruges by famous Flemish artist Hugo van der Goes, and it was commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, Florentine banker at the head of the local Medici bank. The work was brought by sea as far as Pisa, before travelling up the Arno and arriving in Florence on 28 May 1483, when it was placed in the church of Sant’Egidio in the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, historically under the patronage of the Portinari family.

The central panel, which is almost entirely occupied by a Nordic-style building, shows a group of shepherds, painted in a realistic manner, humbly kneeling before the Christ Child, from whom a divine light is shining. Mary too, imposing in her blue robes, observes the Child lovingly, while the scene is completed by St. Joseph and a series of angels, in a semicircle around the Child.

The side panels of the triptych continue the central panel, with the prosecution of the landscape, which is dotted with houses and castles, shown in the minutest details (according to a style that is typical of Flemish art). Members of the Portinari family are also depicted, kneeling in prayer and accompanied by their respective patron saints. The panel on the left is dedicated to men and includes Tommaso Portinari with his two sons, Antonio and Pigello, presented by St. Thomas (with a large staff) and St. Anthony Abbot (in his typical hermit’s clothes). The panel on the right depicts the female figures: Maria di Francesco Baroncelli, wife of Tommaso, and their daughter, Margherita, behind whom there are St. Mary Magdalene (with her pot of unguents) and St. Margaret (with book and dragon). Mary Magdalene in particular stands out for her sumptuous dress and typical hairstyle of the 15th century, with hair shaved over her forehead and tied in an elaborate bun.

In the background, the representation of two secondary episodes of the holy story: on the left side, the Flight into Egypt; on the right, The Wise Men on the Road to Bethlehem.

In the foreground is a splendid still life, with two vases of flowers and a sheaf of wheat, which conceal allegorical and religious references. The wheat alludes to the Last Supper, where Christ introduces the sacrament of the Eucharist by breaking bread, while the red lilies symbolise the blood spilled during the Passion, the white irises represent purity and the purple ones, together with the columbine in the smaller vase, refer to the seven sorrows of the Virgin. The carnations, lastly, evoke the Holy Trinity. Thus in this scene, it is as if the birth of Jesus already foreshadows his death and resurrection. Another object to be interpreted for its symbolism is the clog belonging to St. Joseph, which he took off to honor, barefoot, the holy nature of the ground on which the Child is lying.

The story of St. Margaret tells that, after professing her Christian faith, she was imprisoned and visited in her cell by a demon in the form of a dragon, who then swallowed her up. However, Margaret, armed with a cross, was able to cut her way out of the dragon’s belly and emerge unharmed. The head of the dragon, painted at the saint’s feet by the artist, has nothing of the traditional ferocity of a fire-breathing monster. It looks far gentler, to the point that it seems almost a docile dog with shining eyes.

The side panels can be closed, in the manner typical of Nordic altarpieces, and show a monochromatic Annunciation, in which the figures emerge sculpturally from inside their niches, almost as if made in marble.

Adoration of the Magi

Late 15th Century

Oil on wood, 57 x 44.8 cm

Uffizi Galleries, Palatine Gallery of Pitti Palace

Inv. 1912 no. 341

This small panel, commissioned by the Cetona branch of the Vitelli family from Città di Castello (as shown by the emblem painted in the two bottom corners) joined the Medici collections in 1675, when it was bought by Cardinal Leopoldo. For centuries, it was attributed to Pinturicchio or to the Umbrian School generically. However, after restoration in 1997, the theory was put forward that this is actually a work by Amico Aspertini, painted in Rome at the close of the 15th century. Like other paintings by the Bolognese artist, this Adoration shows great creative verve, characterized by a desire to try out new forms that could “change” the stylistic trends of the period, all focused on the slightly mechanical repeat of Raphaelesque manners.

This is evident in the delicate, slim figures of the Wise Men, who present their gifts to the Holy Family, on the right-hand side of the painting. With their contemporary clothing, made in the richest of fabrics (velvets and silks in bright, almost iridescent colors), and with precious gold trims, they conclude a procession in which numerous elegant and noble personages take part. Given their characteristic features and their important position in the composition, it should not be excluded that some of them (for example, the man with white hair, dressed in a brown tunic and the man in the red hat, immediately behind the Wise Men) are portraits of people who really existed, perhaps those who commissioned the work.

Considered as a precursor of Mannerism, Aspertini shows an original style that is also quite evident in the way he represents nature in the background. Indeed, he starts from the typical elements of Umbrian landscapes (slender, elongated trees with a dense foliage of minute leaves, and a pale light that gently blurs the contours in the background) to reinterpret them in an innovative manner, by giving, for example, more ruggedness and more chiaroscuro contrasts to the rocks that are almost an architectural backdrop to the procession in movement.

To accentuate the fact that the Wise Men have come from the East, the artist has added some exotic animals, including a giraffe and a dromedary, painted with almost miniaturist flair.

Beyond the posts supporting the stable roof of the Nativity, there is the representation of an episode that took place after (in the narration of the Gospels) the Adoration of the Magi, namely the Flight into Egypt. In fact, it is possible to see Mary and the Child sitting on a donkey, accompanied by St. Joseph, who is on foot, after they were warned by the angel appearing to them in the heavens, inside a purple ring of light, and have set out on a journey to escape the massacre of the innocents, as ordered by King Herod.

Adoration of the Magi

1504

Oil on wood, 99 x 113.5 cm

Uffizi Galleries, Gallery of Statues and Paintings

Inv. 1890 no. 1434

This painting executed by Dürer in 1504 is a masterpiece of elegantly combined Nordic models and Italian influences. At this time, Dürer had already travelled to Italy once and was therefore familiar with ancient artworks and Italian art (in particular, the works by Mantegna, Bellini, and Leonardo). In Nuremberg (his birthplace), the young Durer had had occasion to see prints, coins, medals and engraved gems brought to the city, thanks to a busy trade with Northern Italy. In this Adoration, although taking the Nordic models into account (Dieric Bouts and David Gerardi, for its references to mixed architecture, to broken arches and precarious wooden structures), the master expresses his art in an “Italian-style” language, choosing to represent just a few, solidly constructed figures that move through a well-constructed space. The bearded king kneeling and bending towards the Child evokes, for example, Leonardo and specifically the Wise Man and the figure of the old man leaning out, both in the Adoration of the Magi at the Uffizi, recently restored and displayed in the Gallery after a lengthy absence. The king shown in profile is also rather Leonardesque in style, and is thought to be based on Dürer himself, a man with long, blond curls recalling the self-portrait at the Prado. The whole scene is described in elegant detail and search for particulars: fabrics, brocades, crowns and goblets (made by goldsmiths in Nuremberg), rubies, pearls, the Virgin’s veil, feathers, animals, and plants, all according to Flemish tastes from the other side of the Alps. The colour selection is also worth mentioning: in the foreground, the red, green and blue; in the background, the blue of sky and sea with a palette that becomes lighter and brighter as it opens out onto a fairy tale landscape, with knights and a village in the distance. The iconographic choice is focused on the main characters: the Virgin showing the Christ Child to the three Wise Men, who have brought gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. The painting is dated “1504” and signed with the artist’s monogram “AD”, on the grey stone placed in the foreground, near to the Virgin.

Adoration of the Magi

1481-1482 ca.

Drawing in charcoal, watercolour ink and oil on wood; 244 x 240 cm

Uffizi Galleries, Gallery of Statues and Paintings

Inv. 1890 no. 1594

It is clear that Leonardo, through his comprehension of art, began many things and never finished one of them since it seemed to him that the hand was not able to attain to the perfection of art in carrying out the things which he imagined.

Giorgio Vasari

The Augustinian friars of San Donato in Scopeto (Florence) commissioned this work from Leonardo in 1481, but he left it unfinished for he left to Milan. The painting was substituted by an Adoration of the Magi by Filippino Lippi (today in the Uffizi) and it remained in Benci’s Palace in Florence. At the end of the 16th century it was in the Medici’s collections.

Leonardo’s masterpiece is therefore suspended in execution to an initial level of a rough sketch. The artist took the development of the work to different stages: some of the characters are barely sketched out, while others are more finished.

The painting represents the celebration of the feast of the Epiphany when, according to St. Augustine, all people respond to the call of Christ. For this theme, Leonardo studied an extremely complex composition, which is very rich with figures set out in a semi-circle, with the Virgin and Child as the central focus.

The complex and unusual iconography is due to a reference to the biblical Book of Isaiah (60, 4-7) prefiguring the advent of the Messiah, the one rebuilding, in peace, the temple of Jerusalem (back on the left; while on the right war scenes). Pointed by an angel behind the Child, the small tree is the symbol of the Shoot of Jesse (Jesus), young but with ancient roots (Zachariah 6,12-13), venerated by all the people on Earth.

Adoration of the Child

1619-1620 c.

Oil on canvas, 95.5 × 131 cm

Uffizi Galleries, Gallery of Statues and Paintings

Inv. 1890 no. 739

This nativity scene is a work of Dutch painter Gerrit van Honthorst, also called Gherardo delle Notti because of his peculiar compositions in nocturnal lighting influenced by Caravaggio that he met in Rome in the first decades of the 17th century.

During his stay in Italy, Honthorst met Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici, who bought some of his works in 1620, among which probably this canvas that now is on display at the Uffizi.

It depicts four figures next to the infant Jesus: the Madonna, St. Joseph and two angels totally immersed in adoration for the Child and deeply moved by the miracle they are witnessing.

A blinding light is spreading from the newborn’s body and illuminating the faces of the surrounding figures, thus making them come out from the dark background. It represents the divine light that soften each feature, in particular the facial ones of the Virgin.

On the right side of the canvas, St. Joseph is leaning against his cane and looking at the child with a mixed expression of love and joy. The two angels stand out on the left side: dressed in blue, one is crossing his hands on his chest in a gesture of humbleness, while the other, wearing a yellow tunic embellished with pearls in hems and a belt of red silk, is joining his hands in prayer.

The painting strikes the observer for the tenderness of the two angels bent over the manger. Their enchanted gaze is full of affection: their blushed cheeks and soft curls give more naturalness to their childlike faces. Their smiles are spontaneous like those portrayed from real life: indeed, painters often used their apprentices as models for their works.

Like the angels, also St. Joseph seems to be portrayed from real life: with a thick grizzled beard, his face is marked by wrinkles that show his advanced age, compared to that of the Virgin, and his fatigue due to his craft job.

Adoration of the Shepherds

1670-1680 c.

Oil on canvas, 73 × 88 cm

Uffizi Galleries, Palatine Gallery of Pitti Palace

Inv. 1890 no. 3430

The artwork in displayed in the Gallery of Statues (Palatine Gallery of Pitti Palace), on the occasion of Christmas Time.

At the centre of the painting, a group of shepherds and farmers is surrounding the Holy Family to pay homage to the child Jesus. In this way, it offers an intimate interpretation of the evangelical episode. The kind and devoted expressions, as well as the tender and significant gestures of the protagonists evoke the so-called “poetry of the affections”, according to the models of great masterpieces such as the Night by Correggio preserved in Dresden and the Nativity by Federico Barocci displayed at the Prado in Madrid.

Its small dimensions lead to suppose that it was a private devotional painting, differently from grandiose and solemn altarpieces like the Adoration of the Magi by Luca Giordano.

The light radiating from the Child dominates the scene and illuminates the surrounding figures. This kind of nocturnal lighting recalls Correggio, one of the first and important artists who used this style.

The focus of this work is on the general composition and landscape, whereas in the Nativity by Gerrit van Honthorst the attention is concentrated on the figures portrayed in the very foreground.

In the background, the sky is broken by flashes and streaked clouds seeming to predict a storm. This detail shows the clear interest of Mehus for the depiction of nature and atmospheric effects, two privileged aspects in the tradition of Northern painting.

At the centre of the scene, the Virgin is lifting a piece of sheet to cover her son. This extremely human gesture and the exchange of gazes between mother and son are patently inspired by the Night by Correggio.

Adoration of the Magi

1683-1685 c.

Oil on canvas, 190 × 122.5 cm

Uffizi Galleries, Palatine Gallery of Pitti Palace

Inv. Poggio Imperiale no. 155

The painting dates back to the period when the artist returned to Naples between his two visits in Florence (1682-1683 and 1685-1686).

The original location of the canvas explains its large dimensions and the vertical format: it was indeed conceived to decorate the altar built for the viceroy of Naples, 7th Marchese of Carpio, inside his family chapel. Later, Grand Duke Cosimo III bought it for his own collections.

In the middle of the scene, we can admire the Madonna with the Child and St. Joseph behind her. According to the tradition, he has the appearance of an old, bearded man, while Mary looks very young, nearly an adolescent. Dressed in sumptuous robes, the three wise men gather around them and offer their gifts to Christ.

In the background of a sky illuminated by a golden glow, numerous angels emerge from a whirl of clouds.

The vertical composition involves the observer and gives the painting a strong dynamism and a theatrical effect.

The artist expresses his fascination for the Venetian painting of the 16th century by creating a warm and bright atmosphere and using intense colours for the clothing enhanced by brilliant reflected lights.

In the foreground, dressed according to their contemporary fashion two servants are attending the sacred scene while talking to each other: the one on the right is a young moor, the other on the left is a dwarf, namely typical characters at European courts at that time. Thanks to these two figures, Giordano can introduce the daily life of the period in the painting.

One of the three Magi, Gaspar, portrayed in profile in front of the Virgin, has very characteristic physiognomic features. It is probably a portrait of the patron, whose name was indeed Gaspar.