The Nativity

Although called a nativity, this painting lacks the manger, ox, and ass traditionally found in scenes of Christ's birth. It would be better interpreted as a mystical adoration of saints. John the Baptist, Catherine of Alexandria, and the Virgin are in the foreground. From left to right standing behind them are Sebastian, pierced with arrows; the pilgrim James Major; Joseph, the husband of Mary; and the pilgrim Roch. Soaring through the heavens is God the Father accompanied by a phalanx of putti.

Commissioned by a member of the Baciadonne family of Genoa, this large altarpiece is the most important religious painting by Perino del Vaga to survive. Perino had been a pupil of Raphael in Rome, and his indebtedness to his master is evident here in the idealization of the figures and the grace of the postures. Like others of his generation, however, Perino departed from Raphael's serene harmonies to instill in his works a greater degree of tension and artifice. In this altarpiece the studied gestures hang in the air as if to function in the place of speech. Poses seem choreographed and, in several instances, tipped off balance. Rich colors glow phosphorescently with a stained-glass intensity out of the oddly dark morning.