The Nativity
Benjamin West (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 1738 - London 1820)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1792 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on sheets of paper attached to canvas
Measurements
4978 x 2565 mm (196 x 101 in)
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 486289
Caption
This picture is a full-size cartoon for the stained glass window in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. In the sale catalogue of 1829 it was described as follows: “...as a specimen of colouring, is wrought in the true gusto of elevated art. The lower compartment represented with gravity and local truth, is sufficiently harmonious by its native simplicity; whilst the upper part of the composition, being wrought on a higher scale, bursts upon the sight with celestial brightness. As a picture, it is so compatible with the spirit and intention of the design, so entirely effective and harmonious, that the absence of oils and varnished in its fabric, leave the admirers of true art no feels for regret.”
Summary
Oil painting on sheets of paper attached to canvas, The Nativity by Benjamin West PRA (Swarthmore 1738 - London 1820), signed: B.West 1792. Mary is shown seated, holding the Babe, with Joseph bending over Him, holding a lamp. An angel and seraphs watch from above.
Provenance
Bought by the 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837) at the artist's sale at Robins, 22 May 1829, lot 36; thence by descent, until the death in 1952 of the 3rd Lord Leconfield, who had given Petworth to the National Trust in 1947, and whose nephew and heir, John Wyndham, 6th Lord Leconfield and 1st Lord Egremont (1920-72) arranged for the acceptance of the major portion of the collections at Petworth in lieu of death duties (the first ever such arrangement) in 1956 by HM Treasury.
Credit line
Petworth House, The Egremont Collection (acquired in lieu of tax by HM Treasury in 1956 and subsequently transferred to the National Trust)
Makers and roles
Benjamin West (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 1738 - London 1820), artist
References
Gault 1820 J.Gault, Life and Works of West, 1820, p.217: Von Erffa & Staley 1986 Helmut von Erffa & Allen Staley, The Paintings of Benjamin West, New Haven & London 1986, pp.323-4, no.298 Rowell, 1993: Christopher Rowell. “The North Gallery at Petworth: an historical re-appraisal.” Apollo 138.377 (1993): pp.29- 36.