Antonio Balestra (1699-1740), Nativity

Antonio Balestra, originally from Verona, was a student of Antonio Belucci in Venice for three years from 1687–1690 and then went to Rome, where he became a student of the famous Carlo Maratta. Balestra's paintings are a mixture of Roman, Bolognese and Venetian stylistic influences. The painting shows Mary in the stable in Bethlehem with her newly born divine son, whose light illuminates her face and the entire nighttime scene in the stable in Bethlehem ("I am the light of the world", John 8:12). She embraces the child with her right arm, and with her left hand she lifts up the cloth on which the baby Jesus lies by one corner. This gesture is understood iconographically as an allusion to the shroud of Christ: Jesus was born to redeem humanity through his death. This theological allusion does not in any way detract from the beauty of the composition. The lighting of the head of the youthfully beautiful Mary, who looks at her son with devotion and quiet joy, is a particularly artistic feat. Putti crowd the manger from the left to witness the scene. Winged angel heads appear in the clouds at the top left. They too are illuminated by the light of the baby Jesus. Oil on canvas, 55.5 ×73 cm