It Was, Then, Not a Dream. This Was a Sign Unto Them. (The Nativity). 1912 by Newell Convers Wyeth (American, 1882-1945)

Swathed in brilliant light and sleeping soundly, a babe lies in a manger surrounded by his adoring parents and doting shepherds. In Wyeth's painting. Mary is bathed in the light and glory that emanates from the small Christ child. Though this moment Is joytul,

weariness is visible on Mar stace trom the long ourney her and Joseon nave endured until now

This depiction of the Nativity was commissioned by the publishing house Charles

Scribner's Sons to accompany Thomas Nelson Page's (1853-1922) text I he Stable of the Inn. Wveth had a healthy and prosperous relationshio with Charles Scribner's Sons illustrating many classic stories for them such as The Last of the Mohicans 1919 and The Yearling (1939).

Provenance

Charles Scribner's Sons New York oseon Hawley Chapin. New York.

• Victor H. Neirinckx, New York, 1960.
• Private Collection, New Jersey, 1960
• Acquired by the late owner from the above, 2008

• Greenville, South Carolina, Greenville Museum of Art, N.C. Wyeth: Inaugural Exhibition, March 9 - May 26, 1974, p. 12, no. 71. (as The Nativity).
• Tokyo, Odakyu Museum, The Great American Illustrators, 1993, pp. 34, 125, no. 12,

Illustrateo, and elsewhere. as wauvny).

Literature

• T.N. Page, "The Stable of the Inn," Scribner's Magazine, New York, December 1912,
  vol. LI, no. 6, p. 644-A, illustrated.
  "Latest Book News," The Buffalo Commercial Saturday Evening, New York, November 16, 1912, p. 7.
• "The Christmas Scribner's: Price Collier on German Press and Politics-Beautifully
• Illustrated Story of the Nativity.," The Boston Globe, November 23, 1912, vol. LXXXIlm bi, 146, p. 13.

• T.N. Page, The Land of the Spirit, New York, 1913, p. 104, illustrated. (as it was, then,
  not a dream. This was the sign unto them.
• D. Allen, D. Allen Jr., N.C. Wyeth, The Collected Paintings, Illustrations, and Murals, New York, 1972, pp. 75, 276, 334, illustrated. (as The Nativity).
• The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., The Story of Jesus, Pleasantville, New York and Montreal, 1993, pp. 348, 370, illustrated. (as The tender Nativity scene).
• C.B. Podmaniczky, N.C. Wyeth Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings, vol. I, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, 2008, pp. 266, ,902, no. | 457 (245), illustrated

Oil on canvas

47 × 38 in.