The peice was acquired by the museum in 1947 from a private individual.
Mid 18th century Russia was a monarchy and larlgely dominated by serfdom with little opportunities for social mobility. In such a society there was an all-encompassing authority with a high oppression rate, but at the same time, there was a growing awareness about the social injustice. Aligned to the social situation, for the subject of visual arts this was a transitional time during which it was breaking away from its old ways of serving church and nobility through theological and imperial themes to serving a broader audience through depicting all stratas of the society in a "real" manner. Born in 1757, Vladimir Borovikovsky, belonged to a Russian military frontier family but his father, Luka Borovik, was also an icon painter. After serving for a while in the Morigorod regiment along with his three siblings, Vladimir, retired early and devoted his life to art and started painting icon painting for local churches. During this time, on one ocassion, his friend, Vasily kapnist, was preparing an accomodation for empress catherine II in Kremenchuk while she was travelling to newly conquered Crimea. kapnist asked Borovikovsky to paint two allegorical paintings for the empress, seeing which the empress was so impressed that she requested him to move to St. Petersburg. Thereafter, from around 1788, Borovikovsky, lived in St. peteresburg and took private lessons from Dmitry Levitzky and later from Austrian painter Johann Baptist Lampi. Appointed as an academician, In 1795 he became a popular portrait painter and created about 500 portraits during his lifetime. He was respected by peers and the royalty and received multiple comissions. His body of work largely include portraits of the royalty, nobility and Christian iconographical themes. The painting "Nativity" for instance denotes the birth of christ. In the painting we see Mary sitted near a basket of hay with folded hands, seemingly bowing to the baby Christ who lies peacefully surrounded by cattle and group of angels who huddle together under a shed. Behind Marry, towards right, a slight opening, gives us a peak to the beatifull moon. Although painted in a sombre colour palette, there is an optimism in the way, the moon shines behind and Marry prays. There is an uniqueness in the work which makes it difficult for us to place the painting as apart of any strictly singular genre or style. This has coherence in terms of the visual culture of the time going through a transition.
"The Nativity of Christ" is a classic late 18th to early 19th-century religious oil painting by the renowned Russian-Ukrainian master Vladimir Borovikovsky.The artwork masterfully utilizes chiaroscuro to capture the intimate and sacred scene of the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable. The central focal point is the infant Jesus lying peacefully in a straw-filled manger, functioning as the primary light source for the entire composition. This divine glow radiates upward, illuminating the Virgin Mary who kneels beside him in quiet adoration with her hands pressed together in prayer.Adding a unique and profound layer to the background is a dense cloud of small, cherubic angel faces materializing from the shadows. They gaze downward toward the newborn savior, reinforcing the supernatural and heavenly intervention of the event. On the far left, a soft silhouette of an ox peers over the manger, completing the humble stable setting. Borovikovsky’s delicate brushwork and dramatic contrast between dark shadows and brilliant spiritual light evoke an atmosphere of profound serenity, reverence, and holy wonder.
