The Adoration of the Christ Child
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
98.5 × 76.3 cm (38 3/4 × 30 1/16 in.); Framed: 108 × 86.4 × 9.6 cm (42 1/2 × 34 × 3 3/4 in.)
Classification
oil on panel
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
100345
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In this joyous imagining of Jesus’s birth, choirs of angels—each with a different musical attribute—fill the stable with celebratory music. The artist elaborated the setting with luxurious red porphyry and green marble architectural features adorned with floral designs called grotteschi. These organic yet fantastical decorative motifs were inspired by the recent excavation of the Domus Aureus, Emperor Nero’s grand, first-century palace in Rome. Here, these details are likely meant to evoke the t...
About the Artist
Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen (Netherlandish) · 1465 –1533
Netherlandish, Oostsanen ca. 1470–1533 Amsterdam