The Mystical Nativity (Botticelli)

''The Mystical Nativity'' is a painting in oil on canvas dated by the Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli, in the National Gallery in London. It is his only signed work and has an unusual iconography for a painting of the Nativity.

The Greek inscription at the top translates as: 'This picture, at the end of the year 1500, in the troubles of Italy, I, Alessandro, in the half-time after the time, painted, according to the eleventh hapterof Saint John, in the second woe of the Apocalypse, during the release of the devil for three and a half years; then he shall be bound in the twelfth hapterand we shall see im buriedas in this picture'. Botticelli believed himself to be living during the Great Tribulation, possibly due to the upheavals in Europe at the time, and was predicting Christ's millennium as stated in the Book of Revelation.

It has been suggested that the painting may be connected with the influence of Girolamo Savonarola, whose influence appears in a number of late paintings by Botticelli, though the contents of the image may have been specified by the person commissioning it. The painting uses the medieval convention of showing the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus larger both than other figures, and their surroundings; this was certainly done deliberately for effect, as earlier works by Botticelli use correct graphical perspective.

It is not to be confused with the ''Mystical Nativity'' or ''Adoration in the Forest'' by Filippo Lippi, now in Berlin.

Description

The Virgin Mary is shown kneeling before the Christ Child in the centre, both are on a larger scale than the other figures. Joseph sits on the ground next to the child, perhaps asleep, with his face not visible. Behind the family are a ox and an ass. On either side of the main group an angel with an olive branch in their outstretched hand shows the child to respectively two shepherds and three men in long gowns, perhaps the biblical Magi. These five are kneeling and crowned with olive branches. At the bottom of the work, three angels embrace three men also with olive on their head. Around them seven small devils are piercing themselves with lances and falling back into the underworld, "burying themselves".

Historical context

''The Mystical Nativity'' depicts a scene of joy and celebration, of earthly and heavenly delight, with angels dancing at the top of the painting. At the top of the painting stands Sandro Botticelli's name – but also the apocalyptic and troubling words. And there are dark premonitions – the helpless child rests on a sheet that evokes the shroud in which his body will one day be wrapped, while the cave in which the scene is set calls to mind his tomb. The Kings on the left bear no gifts, but their own devotion. At the top of the painting twelve angels dressed in the colours of faith, hope and charity dance in a circle holding olive branches, and above them heaven opens in a great golden dome, while at the bottom of the painting three angels embrace three men, seeming to raise them up from the ground. They hold scrolls which proclaim in Latin, "peace on earth to men of goodwill". Behind them seven devils flee to the underworld, some impaled on their own weapons. In Renaissance times Last Judgment paintings showed viewers the reckoning of the damned and the saved at the time of Christ's Second Coming. According to art historian Jonathan Nelson, "in echoing this kind of painting the ''Mystical Nativity'' is asking us to think not only of Christ's birth but of his return".

The painting emerged from the city of Florence in a time when the fanatical preacher Girolamo Savonarola held the city in its grip. He had arrived in Florence in 1490 but had been repelled by the artistic glory and enormous wealth that so impressed the world. He preached that this was a corrupt and vice-ridden place. A great scourge was approaching – and then his words had assumed a terrifying reality: the Italian War of 1494–1498. In 1494 a huge French army invaded Italy and troops entered Florence so that the Florentines feared the King of France meant to sack the city. Savonarola stepped into the political vacuum, he met with the French king and persuaded him to leave Florence peacefully. In their gratitude and relief the Florentines increasingly saw the friar as a prophet and his preaching attracted huge crowds to Florence Cathedral. Savonarola claimed that Florence could become the new Jerusalem if the citizens would repent and abandon their sinful luxuries – and that included much of their art. His beliefs were made real as groups of evangelical youths went on to the streets to encourage people to part with their luxuries, their lewd pictures, and books, their vanities, combs, mirrors. Botticelli may well have seen his own paintings fed to the flames. Yet the artist might not have objected because, like much of the city, he too had come under the sway of Savonarola. It seems that a sermon preached by Savonarola bears directly upon the Mystical Nativity.

In one sermon Savonarola preached he set forth a vision that had come to him in which he saw an extraordinary heavenly crown. At its base were twelve hearts with twelve ribbons wrapped around them and written on these in Latin were the unique mystical qualities or privileges of the Virgin Mary – she is 'mother of her father', 'daughter of her son', 'bride of God' etc. Though much of the writing on the ribbons held by the dancing angels is now invisible to the naked eye, infrared reflectography has shown that the original words on the angels ribbons correspond exactly to Savonarola's 12 privileges of the Virgin. In his sermon, preached on Assumption Day, Savonarola went on to explore the 11th and 12th chapters of the Book of Revelation – the precise chapters mentioned in the painting's inscription. He connected the glory of Mary with the imminent coming of the power of Christ on earth.

For years Savonarola held Florence in his hand but his hard line charismatic rule made him powerful political enemies. He was challenged to prove his holiness by walking through fire and when he refused the tide of opinion turned against him. He was arrested, and under torture confessed to being a false prophet. On 23 May 1498 he was hanged with two of his leading lieutenants, their bodies burnt and their ashes scattered in the river Arno. Some see the figures of the three men at the bottom of the painting as representatives of the three executed holy men, raised up and restored to grace – but persecution not peace awaited Savonarola's followers and it was in an atmosphere of oppression that Botticelli set out to create the ''Mystical Nativity''.

Technique

The painting is on canvas – normally he would have used wood panel – perhaps for a painting with a dangerous message, canvas had the advantage that it could be rolled up and hidden. With his canvas prepared he would sketch a detailed design on paper, then he transferred this to canvas. He drew on many sources – the dancing angels echo his own three graces of '' Primavera'', the scurrying devil was inspired by a German woodcut. X-rays show that very little of the original design changed – only an angel's wing was adjusted and trees added over the roof of the stable. Botticelli was now ready to build up the image using tempera paint – the canvas was an experimental medium. To create the heavenly dome Botticelli called on the goldsmith's craft he had learned as a boy. "The symbolism of the gold is to do with the unchanging, untarnished nature of heaven – gold doesn't decay, it doesn't darken like silver. Botticelli would have used an adhesive layer made of oil mixed with resin – not burnished, the gold just patted down on to the surface, following the surface irregularities of the canvas – a glitter, intricate, it would have helped the jewel like quality of the painting – it would have drawn the eye upwards from the Nativity into Heaven. Faith, hope and charity, he angels clothed inwhite, green and red – but the copper based green pigment has discoloured with time, to bronze. Originally it would have been vibrant."

Later history

Botticelli died in 1510. The ''Mystical Nativity'' remained little known for another three centuries. Rome at the end of the 18th century was very different to Renaissance Florence – except for the presence of French invaders. Many foreigners left, but not a young Englishman, William Young Ottley. He was an art lover, and wealthy with a slave plantation in the Caribbean. He bought up many paintings cheaply. At the Villa Aldobrandini he saw a small, unknown work, Botticelli's ''Mystical Nativity''. Botticelli was then in obscurity.

It arrived in London where Ottley's house became in effect a private museum of Italian masterpieces. After Ottley's death William Fuller Maitland of Stansted picked up the painting at an auction for £80. When he loaned it to the Art Treasures Exhibition, Manchester 1857

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