The Nativity with the Infant Saint John

Piero di Cosimo

A woman and a winged angel kneel and a child stands, all looking at a nude, chubby baby who lies on a slate-blue cloth under the ruins of a structure in this round painting. Three more angels and several more people are in the background. They all have pale, peachy skin with wide-set eyes and gold rings for halos. Their full lips are closed, and they have short philtrums over wide mouths. The woman, Mary, kneels at the center of the composition with her body facing us. Her face tips to the left, and her fingertips touch in front of her chest. A white cloth covers her head and drapes to her shoulders. She wears a rose-red dress and lapis-blue cloak lined with pine green, all of which puddle on the ground around her knees. To the right of Mary, the angel’s hair falls in brown, shoulder-length ringlets under a diadem of pearls and gems. Also with hands together in prayer, the angel has butter-yellow wings and wears an emerald-green garment with red sleeves under a muted blue cloak and a jeweled pendant around the neck. Saint John the Baptist, the child standing to the left, has short, brown curly hair and wears a fur-like garment under a burgundy-red cloth. His and the other’s clothing are edged with gold. Saint John clutches his hands together at his chest and holds a staff with a narrow cross at the top. At the bottom center, the nude baby lies with his head propped up on a bushel of wheat on the blue cloth. With his head to our left, he lies on his right hip so his body faces us. A pink rose lies at his feet, and a black and white bird perches on the dirt ground nearby. The facing wall of the stone structure behind the group is missing. A balding man with a white beard and hair steps carefully down a stair near the second level. He wears an aqua-blue robe under a golden yellow cloak and uses a tall staff for balance. More stairs lead to a third level. Through an opening in the back wall, two angels float on a bank of dense clouds in the sky as a barefoot angel stands on the landing, looking to our right. An alcove on our level in the building behind Mary holds a jug, dishes, and a tall vessel. An ox and ass stand in a grassy field to the left of the building. Farther back and on a dirt path, a man with a tall staff and a halo holds one hand up to face a person sitting the grass. The seated person also has a staff with a narrow cross at the top. A man on horseback near that pair gestures to our right, and two more people travel along the path on the far side of the hill. The path leads back to buildings tucked in among steep, grass-carpeted cliffs to the left and, beyond Saint John the Baptist, to hills rolling back to a town and a hazy blue horizon. Pale gray and white clouds bustle across the blue sky.

Artwork details

Artist: Piero di Cosimo
Date: c. 1495/1505
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: overall (diameter): 145.7 cm (57 3/8 in.)
Collection: CIS-R

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square artwork · 4096 × 4096 pixels

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Artwork total

Rs. 1144

Artwork cost: Rs. 1000

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Size / customization

Artwork size: 12" × 12"

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