CMP Review 2026-03-29

Whenever I visit the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, I almost always take a moment to look again at a special painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna (c. 1260–1319). One of the great painters of the Middle Ages, he was also one of the greatest painters of Siena.

The painting I seek out is The Nativity. Charlotte Mason describes the piece this way: “We know Duccio’s curiously primitive and wonderfully revealing portrayal of the rude cattle-shed with the angels crowding to look in, because, there, beneath, is the Saviour of the World with ox and ass almost touching Him as they lift their heads into the manger; and the blessèd Virgin there lies on rude couch of straw beside her child.”

Mason chose this painting to accompany her poem entitled “The Nativity.” It’s a beautiful poem which reminds me of the words of another medieval Sienese: “So that I, then, with my littleness, would be able to see your greatness, you made yourself a little one, wrapping up the greatness of your Godhead in the littleness of our humanity.”

Read or hear Charlotte Mason’s poem that explores this mystery. Find it here.

@artmiddlekauff