Natività di Botticelli

Nativity by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)

The work is a tondo in oil on panel depicting a Mary and Joseph in adoration of the infant Jesus.

In the tondo, now on display in the museum of the Benedictine Abbey of Montecassino, the Madonna is shown praying and adoring the newborn Christ, while St. Joseph, depicted according to the classical iconography of the time with humble clothes and an orange cloak, rests his face on his right hand and looks at the scene with tenderness. The whole scene is set amidst the ruins of pagan temples, on which trees stand surmounted by a roof.

Linearity of design, grace, solemnity of the figures and divinity, four elements that are fundamental to understanding Sandro Botticelli's painting.

The work was donated to the monastery by the Masi family of Montecatini. After years of being in a private collection and therefore of "invisibility", the work can be admired by all those who wish to visit the Abbey.

Museo dell'Abbazia di Montecassino.