Information
Hughes painting of the nativity is unusual in its depiction of Mary as an adolescent; she is traditionally portrayed as a fully-grown woman. Here, Hughes shows her undertaking one of her first duties as a mother, wrapping her child in swaddling bands, an act which prefigures his entombment. The tenderness and care with which she carries out her task further reminds us of her youth and, that as a first time mother, she has much to learn in order to look after the infant Christ. Despite her bewildering predicament she is aided by two angels and watched by three others from above. Their presence highlights the fact that she is not alone and that both mother and baby will be watched over by God.Hughes has used a vivid palette of purple and pinks to paint the celestial figures. Their wings almost burst out of the picture frame creating a sense of dynamism within the composition, but also giving a sense of the cramped, intimate space in which the miracle of Christ's birth took place. Although Mary, as the central figure, dominates the painting Hughes draws are attention to the Christ child, the most important figure, by crowning him in a nimbus, a style of halo favoured in Renaissance paintings. In 1858 Hughes sent 'The Nativity' and its companion piece 'The Annunciation' to the Royal Academy, however, only the former was hung. Ruskin noted in his review of the exhibition 'I happen to know that ['The Nativity'] was hastily finished' but this did not stop him from declaring it 'quite beautiful in thought, and indicative of greater colourist's power than anything in the rooms' ('Academy Notes, 1858' in John Ruskin, 'Complete Works,' 1904, vol. 14, pp. 162-163). Both paintings were later bought by the Newcastle industrialist James Leathart (1820-1895) who also owned Ford Madox Brown's 'Pretty Baa-Lambs' (1956P9) and Burne-Jones 'The Merciful Knight' (1973P84).
- Purchased, 1891.
- © Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery
Makers
Association |
Artist |
Organisation |
Artist |
Arthur Hughes |
- |
Exhibitions
Catalogue No. |
Venue |
Date(s) |
- |
284 |
Royal Academy |
1858 - 1858 |
|
Special Loan Collection of Modern Pictures |
169 |
City of Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery |
1891-10-02 - 1892-01 |
|
Special Loan Exhibition of Pictures of the British School |
2, Gallery D |
Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery |
1896-11 - 1896-11 |
|
Loan Exhibition of Works by Ford Madox Brown and the Pre-Raphaelites |
249 |
City of Manchester Art Gallery |
1911-09-14 - 1911-11-30 |
|
Loan Collection of Works by English Pre-Raphaelite Painters lent by the Art Committee of the Birmingham Corporation |
21 |
National Gallery of British Art (now Tate Britain, London) |
1911-12 - 1912-03 |
|
Paintings and Drawings of the 1860 Period |
101 |
National Gallery of British Art, London |
1923-04-27 - 1923-07-29 |
|
Inaugural Exhibition |
112 |
Leamington Art Gallery |
1928 - 1929 |
|
Exposition Rétrospective de Peinture Anglaise (XVIIe et XVIXe) |
90 |
Musée Moderne, Brussels |
1929-10-12 - 1929-12-01 |
|
Christian Arts Festival |
- |
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield |
1955-10 - 1955-11 |
|
Paintings and Drawings from the Leathart Collection |
44 |
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne |
1968-10-07 - 1968-11-16 |
|
Il sacro e il profano nell' arte dei simbolisti |
45 |
Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Torino |
1969-07 - 1969-08 |
|
Death, Heaven and the Victorians |
15 |
Brighton Art Gallery & Museum |
1970-05-06 - 1970-08-03 |
|
Arthur Hughes: The Pre-Raphaelite Painter |
- |
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff |
1971-10-05 - 1971-10-24 |
- |
Leighton House, London |
1971-12-03 - 1971-12-23 |
|
Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery |
24 |
Hong Kong Museum of Art |
1984-10-20 - 1984-12-02 |
|
Sacred Bond: Images of Motherhood |
no cat. |
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
1990-09-22 - 1990-11-18 |
|
The Art of Seeing: John Ruskin and the Victorian Eye |
no cat. no |
Phoenix Art Museum |
1993-03-06 - 1993-05-23 |
no cat. no |
Indianapolis Museum of Art |
1993-06-22 - 1993-29-08 |
|
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England |
47 |
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle |
1995-03-09 - 1995-05-07 |
47 |
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio |
1995-05-27 - 1995-07-16 |
47 |
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware |
1995-08-11 - 1995-10-15 |
47 |
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas |
1995-11-04 - 1996-01-02 |
47 |
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia |
1996-01-23 - 1996-04-10 |
47 |
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
1996-05-25 - 1996-09-29 |
|
The Pre-Raphaelites |
39 |
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
2009-02-26 - 2009-05-24 |
|
Literature
Author(s) |
Date(s) |
Publisher |
Pages |
Spectator |
|
1 May 1858 |
- |
p. 471 |
|
Spectator |
|
8 May 1858 |
- |
p. 503 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
15 May 1858 |
- |
p. 659 |
|
The Times |
|
22 May 1858 |
- |
p. 9 |
|
Art Journal |
|
1858 |
- |
p. 166 |
|
Notes on Some of the Principal Pictures Exhibited in the Rooms of the Royal Academy |
John Ruskin |
1858 |
Smith Elder, London |
pp. 22-23 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
15 March 1862 |
- |
p. 368 |
|
'English Painters of the Present Day' |
William Michael Rossetti |
August 1870 |
Portfolio |
p. 114 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
13 September 1873 |
- |
p. 344 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
20 September 1873 |
- |
p. 374 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
10 October 1891 |
- |
p. 491 |
|
Athenaeum |
|
2 January 1892 |
- |
p. 30 |
|
Magazine of Art |
|
1892 |
- |
p. 214; repr. p. 215 |
|
Dante Gabriel Rossetti and the Pre-Raphaelite Movement |
Esther Wood |
1894 |
Sampson Low Marston, London |
p. 205 |
|
Loan Collection of Works by English Pre-Raphaelite Painters lent by the Art Committee of the Birmingham Corporation |
|
1911 |
National Gallery of British Art |
p. 8 |
|
'Mr A Hughes: Last of the Pre-Raphaelites'-obituary |
Anonymous |
23 December 1915 |
The Times |
p. 6 |
|
'April Love' - 'A Note' and 'Monthly Chronicle' |
Robert Ross |
February 1916 |
Burlington Magazine |
p. 204 |
|
'The Last of the Pre-Raphaelites: Reflections on a Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by the late Arthur Hughes' |
Anonymous |
November 1916 |
Vogue |
p. 55 |
|
The Dictionary of National Biography |
Malcolm Bell |
1927 |
Oxford University Press, Oxford |
pp. 275-276 |
|
Pre-Raphaelite Painters |
John Gere, Robin Ironside |
1848 |
Phaidon, London |
p. 43; repr. pl. 69 |
|
Il sacro e il profano nell' arte dei simbolisti |
|
1969 |
Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Torino |
repr. p. 41 |
|
A Pre-Raphaelite Circle |
Raleigh Trevelyan |
1978 |
Chatto and Windus, London |
p. 140 |
|
John Ruskin: Letters from the Continent 1858 |
John Hayman |
1982 |
University of Toronto Press, Toronto |
pp. 123-124 |
|
Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery |
Mr Richard Lockett |
1984 |
Urban Council, Hong Kong |
repr. p. 71 |
|
The Art of Seeing: John Ruskin and the Victorian Eye |
|
1993 |
Phoenix Art Museum, USA |
repr. fig. 112 |
|
Visions of Love and Life: Pre-Raphaelite Art from the Birmingham Collection, England |
Stephen Wildman |
1995 |
Art Services International, Alexandria, Virginia |
repr. p. 173 |
|
Arthur Hughes: His Life and Works |
Leonard Roberts |
1997 |
Antique Collectors' Club |
No. 37, p. 142; repr. pl. 22 |
|
The Pre-Raphaelites |
|
2009 |
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm |
cat.39, p.168 |
Provenance
Thomas Edward Plint; Plint sale, Christie's, 8 March 1862 (283), bought-in at 40 gns. by Smith (Plint's executors); bought from them c1862 by James Leathart; bought from him in 1891 by Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. |
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