The Nativity is an

egg tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

painting by Victor. Victor is sometimes referred to as Victor of Crete. Victor was active from 1645 to 1696. He traveled all over the Venetian empire. He settled in Zakinthos. Some of his important works can be found in the church

San Giorgio dei Greci San Giorgio dei Greci () is a church in the ''sestiere'' (neighborhood) of Castello, Venice, northern Italy. It was the center of the Scuola dei Greci, the Confraternity of the Greeks in Venice. Around this period there was a similar church in Na ...

in Venice. He is a very important Greek painter because of his existing catalog. His works of art exceed ninety-five paintings. One of his notable works was his version of '' Christ the Vine''. The Nativity is one of the most important symbols of Christianity. The subject has been depicted countless times by both Greek and Italian artists since the inception of the new religion. Proto-Renaissance paintings and Cretan art share common characteristics. Greek painters continued painting in the traditional Greek-Italian Byzantine style. The style became known as the maniera greca. The phrase was coined by art critic and painter

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

. He wrote the famous book the ''

Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' () is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-century Italian painter and architect Giorgio Vasari, which is considered "perhaps the most famous, and even today the ...

''. . It was one of the first post-classical European terms for style in art. By the 1500s both Greek and Italian patrons preferred the manner to the Italian Renaissance style because they desired traditional art. Greek painting workshops in Crete mass-produced different versions of icons in the style. Some artists signed their work and added their own unique characteristics. Victor's nativity is a mixture of the traditional style and

Venetian painting Venetian painting was a major force in Italian Renaissance painting and beyond. Beginning with the work of Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516) and his brother Gentile Bellini (c. 1429–1507) and their workshops, the major artists of the Venetian s ...

Duccio Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religi ...

completed a similar work. Greek painter

Konstantinos Tzanes Konstantinos Tzanes (, 1633 – 1685; also known as Bounialis () Konstantinos Tzane-Bounialis, Konstantinos Zane, or Konstantinos Tzane) was a Greek Renaissance painter. He was a painter in Crete and Venice. His brother Emmanuel Tzanes was ...

also created a similar version in the same style. An unknown Cretan painter completed a mixed version of the work sometime in the 1500s. One of the most prolific painters of the

Cretan School Cretan school describes an important school of icon painting, under the umbrella of post-Byzantine art, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the fall of Constantinople, beco ...

Michael Damaskinos Michael Damaskenos or Michail Damaskenos (also Damaskinos) (, 1530/35–1592/93) was a leading post-Byzantine Cretan painter. He is a major representative of the Cretan School of painting that flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries. Pain ...

also created a more modern complex version of the subject known as the '' Adoration of the Kings''. The Nativity by Victor is part of the collection of the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

in Australia.

History

The work of art consists of tempera and gold leaf. It follows the traditional Greek Italian Byzantine manner. The height is 22.3 in (56.6 cm) and the width is 16.1 in (40.8 cm). The work was completed sometime in the late 17th century possibly on the island of

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...

. The work is part of the Late

. Victor followed the traditional lines frequently used by Proto-Renaissance painters. Countless patrons preferred the style. The Madonna follows the traditional Greek Byzantine style it shares similar characteristics with

's masterpiece. A

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

visits Joseph in the lower left-hand corner of the work. He is troubled because his child was born in a barn. A maiden to the right of the Joseph figure is cleaning Jesus near a bucket full of water. In the center of the work, the Virgin Mary is painted following the lines of the Greek-Italian traditional Byzantine style. The painter employs complex lines and shading to visually portray her heavenly robe. The Virgin looks away from the viewers as if she is troubled. An ox and donkey greet the Christ Child. An angel instructs one of the

s in the background. To our left, a cavalry of wealthy Magi are approaching to give gifts to the worried holy couple. The painter attempts to create a multidimensional landscape. The work of art is filled with animals and vegetation and a superlative mountainous environment. An unknown Cretan painter sometime in the 16th century created a similar work and added a more complex landscape but preserved the heavenly figures. Victor's work is an excellent example of traditional Greek Italian Byzantine craftsmanship mixed with

Gallery

File:Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, 1308-1311, NGA 10.jpg,

's Nativity File:The Nativity Story (K. Tzanes).png,

's Nativity File:The Nativity.png, Unknown Painter Nativity (16th century) File:Michael Damaskenos Adoration of the Kings.png, Adoration of the Kings (Damaskinos)

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nativity Victor 17th-century paintings Cretan Renaissance paintings Paintings in the National Gallery of Victoria