Nativity

This work, formerly attributed to Adam Elsheimer (1578–1610), follows on from Correggio’s first monumental night-piece in Italian painting, the altar-piece "The Holy Night", c 1528–1530 (Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, inv. no. 152). The choice of the small format and the reduction of protagonists to the Holy Family and the shepherds, without angels, lends an intimate quality to this painting. The composition with three different light sources makes for an evocative nocturne. The brightest light is the divine radiance emanating from the newborn Jesus, emphasising the purely spiritual element. Natural moonlight illumines the landscape in which the scene is set in a fragment of vaulted architecture. Under the influence of Dutch nocturnes, the candles provide the third, artificial light source.

Ducke Astrid: Carlo Saraceni, Nativity, in: Ducke Astrid, Habersatter Thomas (Hrsg./Edi.): von | from 0 auf | to 100. Residenzgalerie Salzburg 1923-2023. Salzburg 2023, S./p. 210-211