Curatorial Notes
In this joyous imagining of Jesus’s birth, choirs of angels—each with a different musical attribute—fill the stable with celebratory music. The artist elaborated the setting with luxurious red porphyry and green marble architectural features adorned with floral designs called grotteschi. These organic yet fantastical decorative motifs were inspired by the recent excavation of the Domus Aureus, Emperor Nero’s grand, first-century palace in Rome. Here, these details are likely meant to evoke the tradition that Christ’s birth took place in a stable constructed in the ruins of the biblical king David’s palace.
Artwork Identification
Title The Adoration of the Christ Child
Title (PT) A Adoração do Menino Jesus
Title (ES) La Adoración del Niño Jesús
Artist Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen
Artist Bio Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen (Netherlandish, c. 1470/75–by 1533) Workshop of Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen (Netherlandish, c. 1470/75–by 1533)
Date c. 1515
Work Type Painting
Location & Collection
Institution Art Institute of Chicago
Source View Museum Page
License Creative Commons Public Domain Mark 1.0
