Christian Articles Archive

Christmas Paintings and Artwork

collected by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

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Georges de al Tour, 'The New-born' (1640s)
Georges de la Tour (1593-1652), The New-born (1640s), Oil on canvas, 76 x 91 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes. Larger image.

There are thousands of renditions of the Holy Family, the Nativity, the Wise Men (Magi), etc., but I've tried to be selective. I consider the following some of the best I've found. You can also find Christmas stories and articles elsewhere on the site. I've divided out some specialized kinds of pictures:

In Dec 2019 I removed dead links, but left the names of the paintings, in case you want to search for them.

Birth of Jesus pictures Christian computer art site

Georges de la Tour (French painter, 1593-1652), influenced by the dramatic chiarscuro of Caravaggio.

  • Christ in the Carpenter's Shop (1645), Oil on canvas, 137 x 101 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
  • The Dream of St Joseph (c. 1640), Oil on canvas, 93 x 81 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes
  • Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1644), Oil on canvas, 107 x 131 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
  • The New-born (1640s), Oil on canvas, 76 x 91 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes

Sir John Everett Millais (Pre-Raphaelite English painter and illustrator, 1829-1896) Christ in the House of His Parents (1849). Oil on canvas. Tate Gallery, London, UK.

James Jacques Joseph Tissot, Christmas, Birth, Childhood of Jesus (French painter and illustrator, 1836-1902).

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

  • The Census in Bethlehem (1566), oil on panel,  Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Royal Museum of Fine Arts).
Rembrandt, 'The Angel Appears to the Shepherds' (c. 1640-42)
Rembrandt, "The Angel Appears to the Shepherds" (c. 1640-42),pen and brush drawing; 17.6 x 20 cm, Hamburg, Kunsthalle. Larger image.

Rembrandt


Rembrandt, The Adoration of the Shepherds (detail, 1646), The National Gallery, London. Larger image.

Edward Lear (1812-1888), Bethlehem (1860s). Signed with mongram. Oil on canvas: 9 x 18 inches. Fine Art Society, London.

William Blake

Sandro Botticelli (Florentine painter, 1444-1510)

  • The Annunciation (1489-90), tempera on wood 150x156cm, The Uffizi, Florence
  • The Mystical Nativity (c. 1500), Tempera on canvas, 108,5 x 75 cm, National Gallery, London. Large.
  • The Nativity (1475-1480) Florence, 1444-1510, fresco transferred to canvas, Columbia (SC) Museum of Art

Pieter Brueghel the Elder (Flemish painter (1525-69)

Antony Van Dyck, Madonna della Paglia, Madonna of the Straw
Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Flemish painter, 1599-1641), "Madonna della Paglia (Madonna of the Straw)" Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome, Italy.
Sir Anthony Van Dyck (Flemish painter, 1599-1641), Nativity, in Time Magazine, Dec 13, 2004. "Madonna della Paglia," Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome, Italy.

Fra Angelico (Florentine painter, c. 1400-1455)

Caspar David Friedrich, Angels in Adoration, 1826. Sepia. 18,5 x 26,7 cm. Hamburger Kunsthalle. Hamburg. Germany.  (in Time Magazine, Dec 13, 2004)

Thema: Geburt und Kindheit Jesu

St. Nicholas with Scenes from His Life, Latter half of the 16th century, 135 x 124. Egg tempera on lime wood, From the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in the village of Liskovate (Poland). Lviv National Museum, # i-1181.

William Hole, R.S.A., R.E. (British artist, 1846-1917). Erma Ferrari (illustrated by William Hole), The Life of Jesus of Nazareth (Simon and Schuster, 1958).  also The Life of Jesus of Nazareth Portrayed in Colours. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1908 and later, 8"x10". Or is this William Brassey Hole, RE, RSW, RSA (1867-1917).

  • The Angel Gabriel Appears to Mary
  • Mary Goes to See Elizabeth
  • Wisemen Worshipping Jesus
  • Wise Men Com Looking for Jesus
  • Carpentry
  • *The Angels Appear to the Shepherds
  • *The Shepherds Come to See the Baby Jesus
  • The Shepherds Come to See Jesus
  • Simeon Blessing Jesus in the Temple
  • The Flight to Egypt
  • Jesus Growing Up in Nazareth
  • Mary and Joseph Arrive in Bethlehem

Visitation to See Elizabeth

Piero di Cosimo (Florentine painter, 1462-1521), The Visitation with St. Nicholas and St. Anthony Abbot (c. 1490), oil on panel 184.2 x 188.6, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. See left corner detail of St. Nicholas with 3 gold balls reading from Proverbs (Wisdom of Solomon).

Shepherds in the Fields, Annunciation to the Shepherds

Annunciation to Shepherds, 1480 stained glass panel (East Harling, Norfolk: East Window, D1),

Arnold Friberg, Shepherds in the Fields (American illustrator, 1913- )

Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), The Annunciation of the Shepherds (c. 1895), Oil on canvas, 13 x 16 inches, Pensler Galleries.

Benozzo Gozzoli, Vigil of the Shepherds (Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence), fresco.

Taddeo Gaddi (1326-30), Annunciation to the Shepherds (1328-30), fresco, Santa Croce, Florence

Edward Burne-Jones, Nativity (1875), St. Martins in the Bull Ring, Birmingham
Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), "Nativity" (1875), William Morris stained glass window, St. Martins in the Bull Ring, Birmingham city center, south window.

Edward Burne-Jones

Angel appearing to shepherds, stained glass window, Lanercost Priory, Lanercost, Cumbria, UK, William Morris company.

"Nativity" (1875), William Morris stained glass window, St. Martins in the Bull Ring, Birmingham city center, south window.

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp  Dutch painter)

  • Annunciation to the Shepherds, oil on panel 33 x 45 3/8 in.
  • Annunciation to the Shepherds, (1612-1652), Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Oil on canvas. 101x99.5 cm.
  • The Adoration of The Shepherds, Oil on panel, 98.0 cm x 75.0 cm. Tyne & Wear Museums.

William Blake, Annunciation to the Shepherds, ink and watercolor, Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, Illustration to Milton's "On the morning of Christ's nativity". The Thomas set.

Rembrandt, The Angel appears to the shepherds (c. 1640-42). Pen and brush drawing; 17.6 x 20 cm; Hamburg, Kunsthalle. Another.

The Annunciation of the Shepherds from the Huntington Manuscript HM1173, a Book of Hours made about 1460-1465. Attributed to Simon Marmion

Horenbout: Annunciation of the Shepherds, Hours of the Virgin, Fol.91r British Museum.

 Paul de Limbourg of Limbourg Brothers, Annunciation To the Shepherds (1411-16), Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry MS 65 in Musee Conde at Chantilly.

The Hague, Manuscript KB, 74 G 39, Book of Hours (Hours of Catharine de Medici; use of Rome). France; c. 1560

Cornelis de Visscher (1619-1662), The Annunciation to the Shepherds (1655-57), etching. Royal Academy of the Arts, London.

Adoration of the Shepherds

Gerard (Gerrit) van Hornthorst, 'Adoration of the Shepherds' (1622)
Gerard (Gerrit) van Honthorst (1590-1656), Adoration of the Shepherds (Die Anbetung der Hirten, Adorazione dei Pastori, 1622). 164 x 190 cm,  Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne. Larger image.

Gerard (Gerrit) van Honthorst (1590-1656)

  • Adoration of the Shepherds (Die Anbetung der Hirten, Adorazione dei Pastori, 1622). Óleo sobre lienzo. 164 x 190 cm,  Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne. Another Another p. 10
  • Adorazione del Bambino (Adoration of the Children, 1620) Galería de los Uffizi. Florencia. Italia. I think this is one of the most beautiful paintings of all, with the beautiful faces of children on the left, Mary on the right, overlooked by Joseph, background left.
  • L'Adoration des Bergers (1619-1620), Óleo sobre lienzo. 338,5 x 198,5 cm. Corredor de Vasari. Galería de los Uffizi. Florencia. Italia
  • Die Anbetung der Hirten. (1632), Öl/Lwd., 121x100 cm, Christie's London

Andrea Mantegna (Italian, Paduan, born no later than 1430, died 1506), The Adoration of the Shepherds (shortly after 1450), Tempera on canvas, transferred from wood; Overall 15 3/4 x 21 7/8 in. (40 x 55.6 cm); painted surface 14 7/8 x 21 in. (37.8 x 53.3 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Matthias Stom(er) (ca. 1600-1650), The Adoration of the Shepherds (ca. 1640/50), Oil on canvas, 117/166 cm, Liechtenstein Museum Wien

El Greco, Adoration of the Shepherds (1574-75), altarpiece.

Pieter Fransz. de Grebber (Dutch painter, c. 1600-1652), The Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1625-30. Signed with initials: P.DG. Oil on panel, Private Collection, Madrid; Nicholas M. Acquavella Galleries; BJU, 1962.

Carl Heinrich Bloch (Danish painter, 1834-1890)

 

Ron DiCianni, Heaven's Loss (angel meditating at manger, contemporary)

Giorgione (Venetian 1477/78-1510), The Adoration of the Shepherds (1505-10), oil on panel 98.8 x 110.5. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Detail on bottom right could be cropped for good composition of smaller picture.

Jacopo Tintoretto (Italian "Mannerist" painter,1519-1594), "Adoration of the Shepherds" or "The Nativity" (c. 1579-81). Oil on canvas. Scuola di San Rocco, Venice. Another.

Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652), Adoration of the Shepherds, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

Le Nain. The Le Nain Brothers: Antoine (about 1600-48), Louis (about 1603-48), Mathieu (about 1607-77)

  • Louis Le Nain, Adoration of the Shepherds (1630-32), Oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris.
  • Brothers_Adoration of the Shepherds (1640), oil on canvas, National Gallery, London

Incarnation Window, Cathedral of Chartes, France.

Dante Gabriel Rosetti (British Pre-Raphaelite painter, 1828-1882), The Adoration (1858-64), watercolor on paper, 406x292 mm, from the Seed of David. Tate Collection.

The Magi or Wise Men

The Journey of the Magi (1894) by James Jaques Joseph Tissot
"The Journey of the Magi" (1894) by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (French painter and illustrator, 1836-1902), oil on canvas, Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Larger image.		  

Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), Adoration of the Magi. The Star of Bethlehem is shown as a comet. Giotto had witnessed Halley's Comet in 1301.

Rembrandt, "The Adoration of the Magi" (1632), Oil on paper pasted on canvas, 45x39 cm, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Notice the tenderness of the wise man kneeling before the baby!

Tissot, The Journey of the Magi (c. 1894), oil on canvas, 70.8 x 101.6 cm, Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  Another.

St. Albans Psalter, The Journey of the Kings, Matthew 2:9. Quire 2. Page 24 commentary. created at St. Abans Abbey essentially by Geoffrey de Gorham (or Gorron), Abbot of St. Albans (1119-46)

Burne-Jones, Adoration of the Magi (1888-91), tapestry of wisemen and holy family. Star of Bethlehem, watercolor, Birmingham Gallery

El Greco, Adoration of the Wisemen ().

Diego Velázquez. The Adoration of the Magi (1619), oil on canvas. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

Rogier van der Weyden, Adoration of the Magi, central panel, St Columba Altarpiece (c. 1455), oil on oak panel, 138 x 153 cm (central), 138 x 70 cm (each wing), Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Hans Memling. Triptych: The Nativity, The Adoration of the Magi, The Presentation in the Temple. c.1470s. Oil on panel. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Magi (1475-76), oil on panel, 111x134 cm, Uffizi, Florence. Another. Another.

Antonio Allegri Correggio (1489-1534) Adoration of the Magi (c 1517) Galleria Nazionale, Parma

Albrecht Durer, Adoration of the Magi (1504), 76x89 cm. Uffizi, Florence. Another. Another.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Adoration of the Magi ()

Jan Bruegel the Elder, Adoration of the Magi (1598-1600), State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburgh

Pieter Brueghel the Younger. Adoration of the Magi. Oil on canvas, transferred from panel. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia. 

Bernardo Cavallino, Adoration by the Magi (1640), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Cosme Tura (1430-1495), Adoration of the Wisemen (1474), Ferrara.

Fra Angelico

Filippino Lippi, Adoration of the Magi (1496), oil on panel, 258x243 cm, Uffizi, Florence. Another.

Francisco de Zurbarán, Adoration of the Three Kings (1638), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Grenoble.

Hans Holbein, Adoration of the Three Kings (1521-1522), Freiburg im Breisgau, Munich.

Domenico Ghirlandaio, The Adoration of the Magi (1488) Spedale degli Innocenti, Florence.

Adoration of the Magi. Panel from a Roman sarcophagus, 4th century CE. From the cemetary of St. Agnes in Rome; former museum of Benedict XIV. Museo Pio Christiano

Leonardo da Vinci, Adoration of the Magi (c. 1481-82), underpainting on panel, 97 x 96", Uffizi, Florence. Very yellowed in appearance.

Dirk Bouts, Adoration of the Magi (1467-68). 63x62 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

Andrea Mantegna, Adoration of the Magi (1462), Tempera on panel, 76 x 76.5 cm, Uffizi, Florence.

Leonaert Bramer, Adoration of the Magi (c. 1633-35).

Benozzo Gozzoli

  • Three Wise Men or Procession of the Magi (1459-1461), fresco in the Magi Chapel of Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence.
  • Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli. Adoration of the Magi. (1438-1444/45). Fresco. Cell 39. San Marco, Florence, Italy.

Affresco La processione dei Magi (part.), Firenze, Palazzo Medici - Riccardi.

Jan Gossaert, Adoration of the Kings (c. 1505), National Gallery, London.

Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi (1423), Tempera on panel, 203 x 282 cm, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

Hieronymus Bosch, Adoration of the Magi, center panel of triptych (c. 1495), The Bronchorst Bosschuyse Triptych. Prado Museum, Madrid. Another.

Collection in Wikipedia article Adoration of the Magi.

Zanobi Strozzi (Italian, 1412-1468), The Adoration of the Magi (ca. 1435-40), Tempera on panel, Overall, 8 x 9 in.; picture surface, 7 1/2 x 18 5/8 in. The National Gallery, London

Giotto di Bondone, Three Kings (detail). Cappella degli Scrovegni all'Arena, Padua.

Sassetta, Journey of the Magi (c. 1435), Tempera and gold on panel, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Originally the upper part of a small "Adoration of the Magi" now in the Palazzo Chigi-Saraceni, Siena.

Musée national du Moyen Âge -- Thermes et Hôtel de Cluny, Paris, France, stained glass window, Three Magi before Herod (early 15th Century)

Miniature of the Magi and of Herod (early 13th Century), Psalter at Oxford, in the British Museum.

Madonna and Child and Christian Postage Stamps

See special page devoted to Madonna and Child Paintings and Christmas Postage Stamps

Jesus' Childhood

  • Gerard (Gerrit) van Honthorst (1590-1656). The Childhood of Christ (c. 1620), Hermitage, St. Petersburg. De jeugd van Jezus (1620), olie op doek, Hermitage, St. Petersburg.  
  • Camille Boiry, The Child Jesus in His Workshop (1909), oil on canvas, .38m x .46m, Galerie Madaba.
  • William Holman Hunt, The Shadow of Death (1870-73), oil on canvas, 212 x 167.6 cm, Manchester City Art Galleries, Manchester. Realistic painting of adult Jesus in carpenter shop with arms spread as if on cross.
  • Sir John Everett Millais. Christ in the House of His Parents (1849), Oil on canvas. Tate Gallery, London, UK. Jesus is a teenager in this picture.
  • Edward Stott, The Carpenter's Shop (c. 1913), oil on board. Royal Academy of Arts, London.
  • J.J. Tissot
  • William James Web, Jesus Grows Up (1894), bw drawing of Jesus in carpenter shop
  • Carl Heinrich Bloch, Teaching in the Temple, boy Jesus in temple, oil on copper plate.

St. Joseph

Guido Reni, St. Joseph with Infant Christ in His arms (1620s)
Guido Reni, "St. Joseph with Infant Christ in his Arms" (1620s), oil on canvass 126x101 cm, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Larger image.
  • Philippe de Champaigne, The Dream of St. Joseph (1642-43), oil on canvas, National Gallery, London
  • Joseph von Fuehrich, The Virgin Mary's Walk Across the Mountains (1841). Time Magazine. St. Joseph picking up a rose behind Mary. OESTERREICHISCHE GALERIE.
  • Simone Cantarini, Rest on the Flight to Egypt (c. 17th century)
  • St. Joseph and the Christ Child (early 18th Century). Painted by an unknown artist in Cusco, Peru. Denver Art Museum.
  • School of Cuzco, St. Joseph and the Christ Child Enthroned with Four Angels (c. 1700-1740), private collection. St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia.
  • Piazzetta Giambattista, Death of St. Joseph (c. 1740). Art Museum of Estonia.
  • Pietro Perugino, detail of Marriage of the Virgin Mary, detail, (1500-1504), Musee des Beaux-Arts. Full image.
  • Raphael, Marriage of the Virgin (1504), after Perugino, Oil on panel. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.
  • Juan Antonio de Frias Escalante, St. Joseph and the Infant Christ (1660-1665), State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg
  • Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Spanish painter, 1617-1682)
  • El Greco, St. Joseph and the Christ Child (1597-99), oil on canvas, Chapel of San José, Toledo, Spain.
  • Guido Reni

  • Georges de la Tour (French painter, 1593-1652), influenced by the dramatic chiarscuro of Caravaggio.

    • Christ in the Carpenter's Shop (1645), Oil on canvas, 137 x 101 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
    • The Dream of St Joseph (c. 1640), Oil on canvas, 93 x 81 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes
  • Rembrandt.
  • John Collier, contemporary painter
    • "Joseph and the Child Jesus"
    • "The Annunciation"
  • Rogier van der Weyden. St. Joseph (c.1445), oil on panel. Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Francisco de Herrera the Elder, St. Joseph and the child, oil on canvas, Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid
     
  • Edouard Leon Louis Edy-Legrand, Joseph's dreams, bw sketch. From François Amiot's and Robert Tamisier's Bible, edited 1950
  • Arcabas, Joseph's dreams, color, abstract
  • Master of Flémalle, St. Joseph in his workshop (c. 1427), oil on wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, right wing of the Merode Altarpiece.
  • Edward Burne-Jones, Study of Joseph for the Adoration (the Star of Bethlehem, 1887)
  • Louis S Glanzman (1922- ), Joseph with Baby Jesus, Joseph with tools, Jesus asleep in hammock, contemporary, mixed medium on art board, 20x15-1/2". Men of the Bible series.

Flight to Egypt

Rembrandt

  • Flight to Egypt, Crossing a Brook, etching and drypoint, 97x145 mm, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh.
  • Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, (1647)
  • The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Panel, 1647. Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland
  • Flight into Egypt (1625), 26x24 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours

Others

Links to images of the Flight Into Egypt, Textweek.com

Wikipedia: Flight into Egypt paintings

Flight to Egypt painting, Cathedral of Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg. Excellent!

Collections

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Copyright of artwork. Much, but not all, of the artwork linked to on this site is in the public domain worldwide due to the date of death of its author (if it is was published outside of the U.S. and the author has been dead for over 70 years), or due to its date of publication (if it was first made public in the U.S. before 1923), at least in the United States (see Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp.), in Germany, and in many other countries.

Copyright © 2024, Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor@joyfulheart.com> All rights reserved. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information.

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