The Nativity with God the Father and Angels
after 1647
Medium
Etching on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
20.5 × 40.2 cm (8 1/8 × 15 7/8 in.)
Classification
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
40783
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Although he was Genoese by birth, Giovanni Battista Castiglione worked among the greatest artists in Baroque Rome. A prolific painter, etcher, and draftsman, he produced several innovative renditions of the Nativity. The epic horizontal sweep of the present etching emphasizes the cosmic power of Christ’s heavenly father (entirely omitting Joseph, Christ’s earthly stepfather). This conceit reappears in an intimate vertical format in God the Father Regarding His Newborn Son (1972.986).
About the Artist
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione · 1609–1664
Versatile and eclectic artist open to foreign influence which was unusual for an Italian artist of his time. Some of his best-known works are somewhat fantastical. He was court painter at Mantua from 1648. Comment on works: Religious; Landscapes; Animals; Mythology.