Nativity (El Greco) Explained

Artist:El Greco
Year:1603-1605
Medium:oil on canvas
Diameter Metric:128
Museum:Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad
City:Illescas

Nativity is a 1603-1605 painting of the Nativity of Jesus by El Greco. It was one of five paintings painted for the high altarpiece of the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad in Illescas, Toledo. It and three others still hang there (Charity, Coronation of the Virgin and Annunciation), whilst the fifth is in the National Museum of Art of Romania (Marriage of the Virgin).

It is a simplification of his Adoration of the Shepherds from the Doña María de Aragón Altarpiece, omitting the shepherds and converting the scene into a circular format.

See also