  We present HST NICMOS photometry of the resolved stellar population in NGC
1569. The CMD in the F110W and F160W photometric bands contains ~2400 stars
with a formal photometric error < 0.1 mag down to J~23.5 and H~22.5. We
describe the data processing which is required to calibrate the instrumental
peculiarities of NICMOS. Two different packages for PSF-fitting photometry are
used to strengthen the photometric results in the crowded stellar field of NGC
1569. The resulting CMD is discussed in terms of the major evolutionary
properties of the resolved stellar populations. For a distance modulus of 26.71
and a reddening E(B-V)=0.56, our CMD samples stars down to ~0.8 Mo,
corresponding to look-back times > 15 Gyr. This is clear indication of SF
activity spanning an entire Hubble time. The metallicity of the reddest RGB
stars is in better agreement with Z=0.004 as measured in HII regions, than with
Z=0.0004 as expected from the stellar ages. The presence of - yet undetected -
very metal-poor stars embedded in the stellar distribution around J=22.75 and
J-H=1.15 is, however, not ruled out. The youngest stars (< 50 Myr) are
preferentially found around the two central super star clusters, whereas the
oldest population has a more uniform spatial distribution. A SFR per unit area
of 1 Mo yr*(-1) kpc*(-2) and a mass formed in stars of ~ 1.4x10*6 Mo in the
last 50 Myr are derived from the CMD. The NIR CMD places strong constraints on
the lower limit of the onset of SF in NGC 1569. The exceptionally high crowding
in the NICMOS images of NGC 1569 is a challenge for the photometric analysis.
As a result, optical and NIR images of NGC 1569 sample different populations
and cannot be cross-correlated. Nevertheless, we demonstrate the consistency of
the SF histories derived from the optical and NIR CMDs.
