Nativity with God the Father and angels 1642 - 1652

Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, also known as Il Grechetto, created this print, "Nativity with God the Father and angels," using etching, drypoint, and burin. Castiglione, working in Baroque Italy, straddled the line between the grand religious narratives of the time and a more personal, expressive style. Look closely at how Mary gazes upward, her face a mixture of awe and vulnerability, cradling the newborn Jesus. Around her, angels swirl in celebration, and above, God the Father looks down. The print depicts not just a holy scene, but also the intimate, human moment of childbirth. It is set within the wider context of seventeenth-century religious art and invites us to consider the place of women, divinity, and the everyday within these narratives. It asks us to reflect on how power, both divine and earthly, is perceived and represented. The image stirs emotions, inviting a personal connection to the sacred event.