Description
Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence is a painting by Caravaggio from 1609: the newborn Jesus lies on straw on the ground, the Virgin sits beside him looking down, and around them stand Saint Joseph, seen from behind in green, Saint Francis, Saint Lawrence and a shepherd, while an angel flies down from above holding a banner. The original, oil on canvas, 268 cm high and 197 cm wide, was stolen in October 1969 from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo and has never been found. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas, working from the best surviving photograph, in 6 portrait sizes from 92 x 127 to 166 x 230 cm or to your own measurement, and before dispatch we show you the finished painting in a photograph.
| Title: | Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence |
| Other titles: | Natività con i santi Lorenzo e Francesco · Die Geburt Christi mit den Heiligen Franziskus und Laurentius |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) |
| Year painted: | 1609 |
| Original size: | 268 cm x 197 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, tenebrism |
| Located at: | Missing since 1969 (stolen from the Oratory of San Lorenzo, Palermo) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes or made to measure |
Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence – Caravaggio
What does Caravaggio’s Nativity show?
Darkness fills almost the whole canvas, and the figures emerge from it one by one. At the very bottom, on a heap of straw on the bare ground, lies the newborn child. The Virgin sits next to him with her head bowed, her eyes lowered to her son.
Four men stand around them. Saint Joseph has his back to the viewer and is dressed in green. Beside him are Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence, and between them a shepherd who has come to see the child.
From above, an angel plunges towards the group holding a long banner, as if bringing the news straight down from heaven. In the shadow behind the figures an ox can only just be made out. The light picks out the child, the Virgin and the angel and leaves everything else in half-darkness, in the way typical of Caravaggio’s tenebrism.
What is the scene about?
The painting tells of the birth of Jesus as the gospel describes it: Mary gave birth in a stable and laid the child on straw, because there was no room for them anywhere else. In the Gospel of Luke an angel announces the good news first to shepherds, which is why both the angel and a shepherd are on the canvas.
Francis of Assisi and Lawrence were, of course, not in Bethlehem. On altarpieces, saints often join biblical scenes as companions to the people praying before them, and the oratory in Palermo where the work hung bears the name of Saint Lawrence.
In the same year, 1609, Caravaggio painted a second birth scene for the Capuchins in Messina, The Adoration of the Shepherds, in which the Virgin lies on the straw holding the child close.
Why is this painting so famous?
First of all, because of what happened to it. On the night of 17 to 18 October 1969 two thieves cut the canvas from its frame and carried it out of the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo. It has not been found since.
The theft is counted among the most significant art crimes in history. The American FBI put it on its list of the Top Ten Art Crimes in 2005, and the Italian police and Interpol are searching for it too.
Wikipedia dates the work to 1609, a year before Caravaggio’s death, although some sources place it earlier. The full story of the theft and the investigations that followed is told in the English Wikipedia article.
Where is the original today?
Nobody knows. The original has been missing since October 1969 and has never been recovered. Investigators believe it passed through the hands of the Sicilian Mafia in the decades after the robbery and may still be hidden.
Over the altar of the Oratory of San Lorenzo there now hangs a replica made in 2015. Its makers worked from slides and photographs of the painting, among them black-and-white glass plate negatives taken at its last restoration in 1951.
The photograph on this page, too, is the best surviving record of the lost painting. Our painter works from it, so the colours of your painting follow that photograph.
Nativity or another Caravaggio?
This tall, quiet canvas painting needs a wall with plenty of height: a stairwell, a high living space or a parish house. If you are looking for another great altarpiece, see The Madonna of the Rosary, where Saint Dominic holds out rosaries to the poor kneeling below him.
For a graver, darker scene from the Passion there is The Flagellation of Christ of 1607, and for a lower wall and a stiller mood Penitent Magdalene, a young woman who has set her jewellery down on the floor.
The Caravaggio page brings together the famous Caravaggio paintings our painters make to order.
How does our painter paint your Nativity?
Every Nativity is painted to order, in oil on canvas and layer by layer. As the original is gone, the painter works from the best surviving photograph: first come the large dark areas and the outlines of the figures, and only then the light.
Then come the straw beneath the child, the Virgin’s lowered face, Joseph’s green robe and the angel’s figure in flight.
A hand-painted Caravaggio reproduction has a surface you can feel with your fingertips: on the angel and the child the brushstrokes show, while in the dark the paint lies thin and calm. No print can do that, which is why an oil painting reproduction of this scene looks almost like a window into a dark room in the evening light.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 92 x 127 or 105 x 145 cm beside a door or between two windows, 120 x 160 or 130 x 185 cm above a sofa or on a staircase, and 151 x 200 or 166 x 230 cm for a tall wall in an entrance hall, a meeting room or a church.
Because the original is very large, this work comes in 6 portrait sizes (width x height): 92 x 127, 105 x 145, 120 x 160, 130 x 185, 151 x 200 and 166 x 230 cm. The closest to the original is the largest, 166 x 230 cm, which is 31 cm narrower and 38 cm lower.
As a painting for the living room with a ceiling of about 250 cm, 92 x 127 and 105 x 145 cm work best, with the bottom edge some 20 cm above the back of the sofa. Hang it with the Virgin’s face at roughly eye level.
Can you paint another size and add a frame?
Yes. If you need different proportions, tell us the width and height you would like and we will send you a price and a date.
Your Nativity can travel rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Our workshop in Slovenia stretches and frames the Nativity before it leaves. You choose the frame in our 3D app, which is there for frame choice only, while a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A broad frame in dark wood suits the large, dark canvas, or one in old gold that recalls the altar the work was made for.
How and when will your Nativity arrive?
Your Nativity is begun the day your order arrives and is ready to ship within 15 to 45 working days. Before it leaves, you receive a photograph of the finished Nativity and can ask for changes. Orders shipped within the EU, Slovenia included, pass through no customs, and each one is covered by our returns policy.
A Nativity scene is a natural Christmas gift, also for a parish. If the recipient should pick the size, a wall art voucher leaves the choice to them.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original now?
No one knows. It was stolen in Palermo in 1969 and never found; a 2015 replica hangs over the altar.
Who are the figures around the child?
The Virgin, Saint Joseph in green, Saint Francis, Saint Lawrence and a shepherd, with an angel holding a banner above.
Is it a print?
No. Every Nativity we send is a hand-painted copy, made with a brush and oil paints.
How big is the original?
It is 268 cm high and 197 cm wide; our largest size, 166 x 230 cm, comes closest.
What do you paint from if the original is missing?
From the best surviving photograph of the lost painting, the same one you see on this page.
Is it suitable for a living room or as a Christmas present?
Yes. The scene is calm and warm, though the larger sizes need a tall wall.
Could you paint the Nativity smaller?
Yes. Give us the measurements you have in mind and we will quote a price and a delivery date.
How long will I wait for the painting?
Usually 15 to 45 working days; we send a photograph of the finished painting before it ships.
- Subject: the newborn Jesus on straw, the Virgin beside him, Joseph, Francis, Lawrence and a shepherd around them, an angel with a banner above.
- Original: 1609, oil on canvas, 268 x 197 cm; stolen in 1969 from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo and still missing.
- Ours: your Nativity, painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 6 portrait sizes from 92 x 127 to 166 x 230 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the FBI named the theft one of its Top Ten Art Crimes in 2005; a 2015 replica hangs over the altar.
