The Nativity of Jesus has been a major subject of Christian art since the 4th century.
Georges de La Tour c. 1644
Master of Vyšší Brod, a Bohemian master, c. 1350. Vyšší Brod (Hohenfurth) cycle. The influence of Italian Byzantine painting was strong in the court of Charles IV.
The stable is just outside the city walls, with the shepherds on the hill behind; Slovakia, c. 1490.
Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, the Magi presenting their gifts (mosaic detail), late 6th century, wearing Persian dress, and Phrygian cap
The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew and in New Testament apocrypha. Soon after the visit by the Magi, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egyp
The Flight into Egypt by Giotto di Bondone (1304–1306, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua)
Fra Bartolomeo, Rest on the Flight into Egypt, c. 1500 (Pienza)
Print of the flight into Egypt. Made by Johannes Wierix.
The Return of the Holy Family from Egypt by Jacob Jordaens (c. 1616)