Nativity

roman school

The Paesina stone panel on which the Nativity scene is depicted is recorded in the Gallery as early as 1693 but is not noted in later inventories. The work has been attributed to various artists and, recently, to Jaques Stella; however, it would seem more prudent to ascribe it more broadly to an unknown Roman painter of the second half of the 16th century.

Object details

Commentary

The panel, executed with an oil-on-stone technique, was first mentioned in the inventory of 1693 as a ‘small picture with the Nativity painted on Stone with ebony frame bordered with white of uncertain n...’ (Inv. 1693, no. 82), its attribution thus already uncertain, while it disappeared in later inventories only to resurface in the Piancastelli’s catalogue, where it was confused with another painting (1891, p. 296).

The stone used, almost exclusively from Tuscany, is called Paesina because buildings, cliffs or desert-like landscapes can often be visualised in it, and it consists mainly of limestone and clay; its very nature makes it able to create a true ‘natural’ setting for the work, so much so that these painted stones were mentioned in the Medici inventories as ‘made by nature and aided by the paintbrush’.

The artist depicts a nativity scene in rocky terrain with the Virgin and Child accompanied by an ox and donkey, while Joseph stands and welcomes the travellers.

The names suggested for the panel include Joachim Patinier (Venturi 1893, p. 122; van Puyvelde 1950, p. 84), Antonio Tempesta and, more recently, Jacques Stella (Hermann Fiore 2006, p. 70). Stella distinguished himself in the painting of Paesina stone, in particular during his stay in Rome, and seems to be the most convincing candidate of the three. Previously, both Longhi and Della Pergola had failed to suggest a precise attribution due to the painting’s rather ‘damaged and shabby’ condition (Longhi 1928, p. 343) which made it difficult to ‘distance it from the anonymity of the Roman school’ (Della Pergola 1959, p. 97).

Gabriele De Melis