Christians often depict Jesus as coming into their own culture, in their present time. The Italians, whose visual language was predominant during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, featured an Italian Jesus in Renaissance times, and they did it so often and so well that when you think “Nativity,” you probably think of the church art from that age and country—not because it offers the most legitimate representations (they are no more “accurate” than the ones below), but because the Church held particular sway at that time, in that place.
The center of Christianity is no longer in the West. If we were to survey the Christian art being produced today, we would see that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have a much different look. We’d see Mary dressed in a sari or a hanbok; we’d see Jesus wrapped in buffalo skin, or silk. We’d see lizards and kangaroos.
Historical accuracy is not the point of nativity paintings. The purpose is to represent Jesus as one of the people, and relevant to life today.
Below are nineteen contextualizations of the Nativity painted within the last century. Each work brings Jesus into the scene of the artist.
(Edited from https://thejesusquestion.org/2011/12/25/nativity-paintings-from-around-the-world/) USA:
James B. Janknegt, Nativity, 1995. Oil on canvas, 57 x 82 cm.
Source.
Crow Nation (Montana-based tribe):
John Guiliani, Mary Gives Birth to Jesus, 1999. From The Crow Series.
Source.
Guatemala:
John Giuliani, Guatemalan Nativity, 1990s.
Source.
Nicaragua:
Leoncio Saenz, Nacimiento (Nativity), 1983. The banner reads: “I come to tell them that in Nicaragua the new man has been born.”
Source.
England:
Dinah Roe Kendall, The Shepherds Went to See the Baby, 1998.
Source.
India:
P. Solomon Raj, Nativity, 1980s. Batik.
Source. (see also another version)
China:
He Qi, Nativity, 1998. Ink and gouache on rice paper.
Source.
Tibet:
A thangka (sacred wall hanging) given by H.H. the Dalai Lama to Fr. Laurence Freeman and the World Community for Christian Meditation in 1998.
Source.
Korea:
Woonbo Kim Ki-chang, The Birth of Jesus Christ, 1952-53. Ink and color on silk, 76 x 63 cm.
Source.
Japan:
Sadao Watanabe, Nativity, 1960s? Stencil print on momigami paper, 58 x 78 cm.
Source. (see two other nativities by Watanabe here and here)
Thailand:
Sawai Chinnawong, Nativity, 2004. Acrylic on canvas, 32 x 37 in.
I love a good heist movie. Here’s a news article that would make a great movie: one where the librarian steals the paintings by replacing them with fakes, and then those paintings get stolen, replaced by worse fakes. Get the popcorn! Chinese Librarian Switched Out $17M in Paintings…With Fakes He Painted Himself But the thief …
When you think about linear perspective, do you think about this? Search the internet for perspective, and that’s pretty much what you’ll see. Billions of lessons illustrating the importance of one point, two point, and three point perspective. Lessons state that this is something every artist needs to learn in order to correctly render the …
Have you heard Keith’s news? …Before I can share the news, just in case you missed my previous V. Note about Nicolás Uribe, I should tell you who he is. Nicolás Uribe is a world famous painter currently based in Bogotá, Colombia. He is known especially for his portraits, and has a youtube channel to which …
Yesterday I posted an introduction to the most unusual art class I’ve ever been a part of. I talked about Cezanne’s approach to recording a scene by using short lines distributed across the page, and how this can be used to integrate abstraction, time, space, and movement in a piece. One of the students in …
Nativity Paintings from around the World
Christians often depict Jesus as coming into their own culture, in their present time. The Italians, whose visual language was predominant during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, featured an Italian Jesus in Renaissance times, and they did it so often and so well that when you think “Nativity,” you probably think of the church art from that age and country—not because it offers the most legitimate representations (they are no more “accurate” than the ones below), but because the Church held particular sway at that time, in that place.
The center of Christianity is no longer in the West. If we were to survey the Christian art being produced today, we would see that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have a much different look. We’d see Mary dressed in a sari or a hanbok; we’d see Jesus wrapped in buffalo skin, or silk. We’d see lizards and kangaroos.
Historical accuracy is not the point of nativity paintings. The purpose is to represent Jesus as one of the people, and relevant to life today.
Below are nineteen contextualizations of the Nativity painted within the last century. Each work brings Jesus into the scene of the artist.
(Edited from https://thejesusquestion.org/2011/12/25/nativity-paintings-from-around-the-world/) USA:
James B. Janknegt, Nativity, 1995. Oil on canvas, 57 x 82 cm.
Source.
Crow Nation (Montana-based tribe):
John Guiliani, Mary Gives Birth to Jesus, 1999. From The Crow Series.
Source.
Guatemala:
John Giuliani, Guatemalan Nativity, 1990s.
Source.
Nicaragua:
Leoncio Saenz, Nacimiento (Nativity), 1983. The banner reads: “I come to tell them that in Nicaragua the new man has been born.”
Source.
England:
Dinah Roe Kendall, The Shepherds Went to See the Baby, 1998.
Source.
India:
P. Solomon Raj, Nativity, 1980s. Batik.
Source. (see also another version)
China:
He Qi, Nativity, 1998. Ink and gouache on rice paper.
Source.
Tibet:
A thangka (sacred wall hanging) given by H.H. the Dalai Lama to Fr. Laurence Freeman and the World Community for Christian Meditation in 1998.
Source.
Korea:
Woonbo Kim Ki-chang, The Birth of Jesus Christ, 1952-53. Ink and color on silk, 76 x 63 cm.
Source.
Japan:
Sadao Watanabe, Nativity, 1960s? Stencil print on momigami paper, 58 x 78 cm.
Source. (see two other nativities by Watanabe here and here)
Thailand:
Sawai Chinnawong, Nativity, 2004. Acrylic on canvas, 32 x 37 in.
Source. (see another Nativity painting by the same artist)
Malaysia:
Hanna Varghese, God Is With Us, 2006. Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 in.
Source.
Indonesia:
Erland Sibuea, Nativity, 2008. Acrylic on canvas, 31 x 23.6 cm.
Source.
Philippines:
Kristoffer Ardena, The Meaning of Christmas, 1995. Oil on canvas, 62 x 46 cm.
Source.
Uganda:
Francis Musango, Christ in the Manger, n.d. Oil painting.
Source.
Cameroon:
Fr. Engelbert Mveng, Nativity, early 1990s. Central scene from church mural. Holy Angels Church, Aurora, Illinois.
Source. (see the full mural)
Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Joseph Mulamba-Mandangi, Nativity, 2001. Peinture grattée, 70 x 50 cm.
Source.
Australia (Aboriginal):
Greg Weatherby, Dreamtime Birth, 1990s? 51 x 64 cm.
Source.
Tahiti:
Paul Gauguin, Baby (The Nativity), 1896. Oil on canvas. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Source. (see also Gauguin’s other Nativity painting, Te Tamari No Atua)
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