03 — ARTWORK
The Nativity
MASTER of Flémalle (Robert Campin) · 1420 →
- MEDIUM
- Oil on wood, 87 x 70 cm
- TYPE
- Religious
PALETTE
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CURRENT LOCATION · Musée des Beaux-Arts (Dijon)
- FILE
- 820 × 1047 px · JPEG
COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
The Nativity is the most famous work of the Master (Robert Campin). It is unusual in that it juxtaposes on a single panelTerm in painting for a support of wood, metal, or other rigid substance, as distinct from canvas. Until the adoption of canvas in the 15th century nearly all the movable paintings of Europe were executed on wood, and even up to the beginning of the 17th century it is probable that as much painting was done on the one support as on the other. Painters who worked on a small scale often used copper panels (Elsheimer is a leading example), and in the colonial art of South America copper and tin and even lead and zinc were used. On a larger scale, slate has occasionally been used as a support, notably by Rubens for his altarpiece for Sta Maria in Vallicella (the Chiesa Nuova) in Rome; the picture he originally painted was said to reflect the light unpleasantly and slate was used for the replacement to produce a more matt finish. For wood panels the Italian masters of the Renaissance preferred white poplar, while oak was the most common wood used in northern Europe. Many other types were used, however; analysis of the contents of art galleries has yielded a long list, including beech, cedar, chestnut, fir, larch, linden, mahogany, olive, and walnut. In the 20th century cedar, teak, and dark walnut are favourites, and modern painters have also used plywood, fibre-board, and other synthetic materials as supports. three distinct episodes from the life of Christ: the Nativity proper, the legend of the midwives, and the adoration of the shepherds.
The child and his parents are shown on the threshold of a rather ramshackle wooden stable. The thatched roof has a hole in it and the walls are dilapidated, revealing the ox and the ass, who, untypically for such a composition, have turned their backs on the newborn infant, rather than drawing near to warm him with their breath. The Virgin is kneeling, her hands held out in a gesture of adoration and her eyes lowered. At her feet, the Christ Child lies on the bare earth, radiant with light.
Joseph, who had been a figure of mockery throughout the Middle Ages and even as recently as Broederlam, is here presented as a venerable old man. He holds a candle in one hand, and with the other shelters its flame from the wind. In the foreground, on the right of the composition, are the two midwives who, according to an apocryphal Gospel, were summoned by Joseph in a moment of anxiety. Behind this first group, the upper part of a stable door has swung wide open to reveal the three shepherds, seemingly prevented from approaching any closer by awe and respect.
Hovering above the scene are four angels. As if exempted from the laws of gravity, they sweep past borne on the wind. They are holding phylacteries, on one of which is written a message. It is addressed to one of the midwives, whose right hand is paralysed: "Tangue puerum et sanabaris" ("touch the child and you shall be healed"). As in the art of the Van Eyck brothers, Campin's painting is minutely detailed in its realismRealism (with an upper case "R"), also known as the Realist school, denotes a mid-nineteenth century art movement and style in which artists discarded the formulas of Neoclassicism and the theatrical drama of Romanticism to paint familiar scenes and events as they actually looked. Typically it involved some sort of sociopolitical or moral message, in the depiction of ugly or commonplace subjects. One of the main representatives and spokesmen was the painter Gustave Courbet. In the dispute about ways to represent reality, Realism rebelled against the idealistic and classicist tendencies in painting.. Light is an important stylistic and symbolic element: the candle which St Joseph holds alight even though it is day reminds the viewer that Jesus was born during the night, and that darkness gave way suddenly to light, as the laws of nature were overturned.
The most striking element in this Nativity, however, is certainly the extended landscape that spreads out behind the stable. Beyond the two midwives, a rutted track running beside a stream leads the eye deep into the picture space. The track is bordered by pollarded willows and tall trees with fine branches. A path joins the track and leads across a meadow surrounded by a wicker fence. A man and a woman are walking along the path; they are wearing capes and are accompanied by a peasant woman carrying a basket of eggs on her head. Further on is a large farmhouse, its yard surrounded by high walls, and beyond this again lies a village with its houses, a lake nestling between hills and a small farm with vineyards perched on a slope. To the left of these stands a town with many splendid buildings, above which a small castle sits perched on a rocky outcrop. It is winter, but the sun is still visible between two mountain peaks, its ray spreading out from the golden disk in a symbol of renewal and redemption.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 11 minutes):
Georges de la Hele: Missa "Nigra sum"
OTHER WORKS BY MASTER OF FLÉMALLE (ROBERT CAMPIN)
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
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author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {The Nativity by MASTER of Flémalle (Robert Campin)},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-14},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/master-of-flmalle-robert-campin-rca7431a0c5d3f1/the-nativity-r2236ce5138fa69},
urldate = {2026-09-14},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-14. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.