Geertgen tot Sint Jans, 'The Nativity at Night', possibly about 1490

The Nativity at Night

Geertgen tot Sint Jans

Not on display

About the work

Overview

This painting shows the traditional Christmas story: the infant Christ, lying in the manger, is watched over by Mary, Joseph and adoring angels, while an ox and donkey peer out of the darkness behind. Through the crumbling back wall we see shepherds and their sheep up on the hills huddled around a fire, their dog beside them. They gaze up in awe at the shining angel in the sky above them.

The divine glow from the Christ Child is a pocket of light in the darkness, creating a sense of intimacy and awe which draws us into the scene. The idea of the night scene lit in this way was not Geertgen’s, but was based on two lost night-time Nativity scenes by Hugo van der Goes.

In-depth

This painting tells the traditional Christmas story – how Christ was born in a stable, and his mother ‘laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn’ (Luke 2: 7). The infant Christ, lying in the manger, is watched over by Mary, Joseph and adoring angels, while an ox and donkey peer out of the darkness behind.

The Bible goes on to describe how shepherds were watching their flocks at night when ‘an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round them’ (Luke 2: 9). Through the crumbling back wall of the stable we see them, huddled around a fire, their dog beside them. They gaze up in awe at the shining angel. One shields his eyes with his red cloak; another kneels, throwing up his hands in wonder.

The scene in the stable is lit by the divine glow of the Christ Child; the rays would once have been more visible. This idea comes from the writings of the popular fourteenth-century mystic Saint Bridget of Sweden, who described the birth of Christ: ’she gave birth to her son, from whom radiated such an ineffable light and splendour, that the sun was not comparable to it, nor did the candle that Saint Joseph had put there, give any light at all, the divine light totally annihilating the material light of the candle.'

This picture has almost universally been attributed to Geertgen tot Sint Jans. It is closest in style to paintings normally assigned to the later years of his short career and was possibly painted in about 1490. The idea of the night scene lit in this way was not Geertgen’s – it was based on two lost night-time Nativity scenes by Hugo van der Goes.

This small painting was probably made for private devotional use. Although less complex and ambitious than the lost work by van der Goes, it is perhaps more touching. The divine glow from the infant Christ is a pocket of light in the darkness, creating a sense of intimacy and awe which draws us into the scene. The artist has carefully differentiated the different sources of light: the child in the manger, the fire and the angel.

The painting was once more colourful, as well as larger. It has darkened so much it is hard to make out some of the details, like the basket hanging from the beam in the top right corner or the sheaf of corn leaning against the back wall. It was cut down to its present size in 1901 and was damaged by fire in 1904 while it was in a private collection in Berlin. The extreme heat may have made the paint bubble, and caused the many tiny round losses, visible in the Virgin’s forehead for example. Colours have changed: the Virgin’s dress and mantle were once different shades of blue but now look black, as does the sky.

Want to find out more?

Delve deeper and explore the catalogue entry for this painting.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Nativity at Night
Artist: Geertgen tot Sint Jans
Artist dates: about 1455/65; died about 1485/95
Date made: possibly about 1490
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 34 × 25.3 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1925
Inventory number: NG4081
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 21st-century Replica Frame

Provenance

The painting was bought in Paris in about 1900 by the Berlin collector Richard von Kaufmann (c. 1850–1908); it was inherited by his widow. Lot 106 in the von Kaufmann sale at Berlin (Cassirer) on 4 December 1917 and the following days, it passed into the collection of Michiel Onnes (1878–1972) at the castle of Nijenrode at Breukelen, north west of Utrecht. It was lot 6 in the Nijenrode sale at Amsterdam (Muller) on 10 July 1923, later belonged to the ironfounder Hans Tietje in Amsterdam and was purchased through Cassirer in 1925.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Lorne Campbell, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Schools’, London 1998; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Bibliography

1901

R. von Kaufmann, Gemälde des XIV-XVI. Jahrhunderts: Aus der Sammlung von Richard von Kaufmann, Berlin 1901
1902

A. Goldschmidt, 'Gemälde des XIV-XVI. Jahrhunderts: Aus der Sammlung von Richard von Kaufmann', Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, XIII, 1902, pp. 239-42
1903

M.J. Friedländer, 'Geertgen tot S. Jans', Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen, XXIV, 1903, pp. 62-70
1906

K. Voll, Die altniederländische Malerei von Jan Van Eyck bis Memling - Ein entwicklungsgeschichtlicher Versuch, Leipzig 1906
1910

L. Balet, Der Frühholländer Geertgen tot Sint Jans, The Hague 1910
1914

N. Beets, 'De tentoonstelling van Noord-Nederlandsche schilder-en beeldhouwkunst vóór 1575, I', Onze Kunst, XXV, 1914, pp. 41-62
1921

W.M. Conway, The van Eycks and Their Followers, London 1921
1924

M.J. Friedländer, Die altniederländische Malerei, 14 vols, Berlin 1924
1925

C. Holmes, 'New Pictures at the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, XLVII/268, 1925, pp. 33-5
1930

J.H.H. Kessler, Geertgen tot S. Jans: Zijn herkomst en invloed in Holland, Utrecht 1930
1936

G.J. Hoogewerff, De Noord-Nederlandsche schilderkunst, 5 vols, S'Gravenhage 1936
1937

M. Davies, 'Netherlandish Primitives: Geertgen tot Sint Jans', The Burlington Magazine, LXX/407, 1937, pp. 88-92
1942

W. Vogelsang, Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Amsterdam 1942
1945

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: Early Netherlandish School, London 1945
1953

E. Panofsky, Early Netherlandish Painting: Its Origins and Character, Cambridge 1953
1955

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: Early Netherlandish School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1955
1964

K. Arndt, 'Zum Werke des Hugo van der Goes', Münchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst, XV/3, 1964, pp. 63-98
1967

K.G. Boon, Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Amsterdam 1967
1967

M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, eds N. Veronée-Verhaegen and H. Pauwels, trans. H. Norden, 14 vols, Leiden 1967
1987

Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Early Netherlandish School, 3rd edn, London 1987
1998

Campbell, Lorne, National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Paintings, London 1998
1998

M. Ainsworth, Gerard David: Purity of Vision in an Age of Transition, New York 1998
2000

G. Finaldi, The Image of Christ, London 2000
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2003

A. Graham-Dixon, In the Picture: The Year through Art, London 2003
2005

J. Snyder, Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts from 1350 to 1575, ed. L. Silver, New Jersey 2005
2008

F. Lammertse and J. Giltaij, Vroege Hollanders: Schilderkunst van de late Middeleeuwen, (exh. cat. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 16 February - 25 May 2008), Rotterdam 2008

Frame

The replica oak frame was made at the Gallery in 2008 for Geertgen’s The Nativity at Night. The architrave frame features a fillet back edge and a plain frieze. A gilt ogee moulding on three sides is completed with a sill on the bottom edge. The wood is stained and coloured, with intentionally visible pegs to give an aged appearance.

The frame was inspired by a sourcebook on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century frames for Southern Netherlandish paintings.

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.