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The Nativity With St. Nichols From Tolentino (Simone De Magistris)

 


Oil On Wood, 1570

By: Simone De Magistris (1538 - 1613) Italian Painter and Sculptor

Fabriano (AN), Marches Region, Italy @ Pinacoteca Civica

 

Description:

 

This is not a classical Nativity, here there are the facial expressions of the two musicians, and probably the donor on the right, with a pair of gloves, and then the infant Jesus with one finger he scratches his ear and with the other hand he greets us. The gesture of the Madonna is unequivocal she tries to protect her son from the outside world.


St. Nichols, a friar is praying, in his hand there is a white flower, that represents the purity of the Virgin.
Above them, there are three flying angels with a message in latin.


This scene is set under a dilapidated building. In the background on the right there are the three shepherds, one of them is picking a fruit to give as a gift to the child. On the left, there are the three wise men. In the middle of the painting, there are fortifications and a river, where the river and the sky come together. 

In my opinion this scene was not set in the canonical cave as it wants to demonstrate the decay of the human being.

 

 



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