... as seen by artists through the ages

For 2,000 years, artists have painted the Christ Child in the Manger.

Some artworks have endured over the ages, such this, the medieval master Caravaggio's Mary and the Christ Child Resting on the Flight to Egypt

Here are 31 that inspired us -- some by famous artists, others by the totally unknown, all adoring in their own way the Savior of the World ... for Whom there was no room in the inn, tiny Immanuel of whom the angels sang ...

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

Correggio's Holy Night 

... as seen by artists through the ages

Detail from a medieval icon inside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

Mary, Joseph and the Baby as depicted by am 18th century artist in India

... as seen by artists through the ages

The Nativity by El Greco

... as seen by artists through the ages

A depiction of the nativity by an unknown artist in Liberia, Africa

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

The Nativity by  Gerard van Honthorst

... as seen by artists through the ages

Madonna and Child by Bartolome Esteban Murillo

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

The Virgin and Child by Sandro Botticelli

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

Madonna with Sleeping Child by Andrea Mantegna

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

Two depictions by 18th Century Japanese artists. Note on the left, Japan's Mt. Fujiyama behind the Holy Family

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

L’innocence by Bouguereau

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages

A 1980s cartoon of the Nativity

... as seen by artists through the ages

Madonna and Child by Adolphe Jourdan

... as seen by artists through the ages

Song of Angels by William Bouguereau

... as seen by artists through the ages

Kissing the Face of God  by Morgan Weistling

... as seen by artists through the ages

Madonna del Rosario by Bartolome  Esteban Murillo

... as seen by artists through the ages

... as seen by artists through the ages