Triptych of birth of Christ

Giovanni Bellini's Triptych of the Birth of Christ, painted around 1464 and now in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice, is an early Nativity triptych from his Paduan-influenced period. The traditional triptych format was common in Venetian churches, and this early work shows Bellini still working within established formats before his innovations would transform Venetian devotional painting. The Nativity subject allowed exploration of the contrast between divine glory and humble birth.

The early triptych displays Bellini's sharp, linear early style with firm contours and angular modeling, the gold-ground panels reflecting the traditional format he would soon transcend with unified spatial compositions.