The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

The Nativity

The Nativity

c. 1485–90
(Netherlandish, 1450/60–1523)
Flanders, Bruges
oil on wood panel
Framed: 102.5 x 76 x 7.5 cm (40 3/8 x 29 15/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 85.2 x 59.7 cm (33 9/16 x 23 1/2 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1958.320
Location: 112 Northern Renaissance

Description

The nativity was one of the most frequently depicted subjects in western art. The event marks the entrance of Christ into the world and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. In the distance an angel announces the birth of Christ to the shepherds tending their flocks. One shepherd is already at the stable adoring the Christ child. In the background, the cityscape represents Jerusalem, where Christ would be crucified, represented here as a northern medieval city. Only Matthew and Luke describe Christ’s nativity in the Gospels, which led medieval writers and artists to amplify the event. Some scholars have suggested that the head of Joseph is a donor portrait. Gerard David was born in Oudewater, now located in Utrecht. He spent his mature career in Bruges, where he was a member of the painters’ guild. Upon the death of Hans Memling in 1494, David became Bruges’s leading painter of devotional panels. He was also a manuscript illuminator.
  • Possibly from a Russian coll.; Richard von Kaufmann, Berlin, 1898; (Cassirer and Helbing, Berlin sale, December 4, 1917, no. 78); Walter von Pannwitz, Berlin; Frau C. von Pannwitz, Hartekamp near Haarlem (1917); (Rosenberg & Stiebel, NY)
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, “Rare 16th Century Painting Arrives at the Cleveland Museum of Art,” December 1, 1958, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 69 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 69 archive.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Catalogue of Paintings. Pt. 1. European Paintings Before 1500. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1974. Mentioned: P. 151-153; Reproduced: P. 150-151, figs. 53, 53a, Pl. XXVI
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 78 archive.org
    Real, William A. "Exploring New Applications for Infrared Reflectography." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 72, no. 8 (1985): 390-412. Reproduced: P. 398, fig. 6a, 6b, 6c, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b; Mentioned: P. 399-401 www.jstor.org
    Urbach, Susan. Early Netherlandish Paintings. London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2015. Reproduced: p. 124, fig. 9.12
    Gertsman, Elina. "Inciting Despair." In Emotions, Communities, and Difference in Medieval Europe: Essays in Honor of Barbara H. Rosenwein, Maureen C. Miller, and Edward Wheatley, 121-138. London; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017. Reproduced: Fig. 8.4
  • Gerard David and Flemish Landscape. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (June 8-August 17, 2004).
    Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (6/8/2004 - 8/17/2004): "Gerard David and Flemish Landscape", fig. 16, p. 45.
    When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982).
    Dutch Art and Life in the Seventeenth Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10-September 2, 1973).
    Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).
    Masterpieces of Flemish Art: Van Eyck to Bosch. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (co-organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1960).
    Berlin, Kunstgeschichtliche Gesellschaft, 1898: Kunstwerke des Mittelalters und der Renaissance aus Berliner Privatbesitz, cat. no. 56; Rotterdam, Museum Boymans, 1939-1940: Schilderijen, beeldhouwerken en teekeningen uit particuliere verzameling in Nederland, cat. no. 12; The Hague, 1945: Nederlandsche kunst van de XVe en XVIe eeuw, cat. no. 45; Bruges, Musée Communal, 1949: Gerard David, cat. no. 6; Detroit Institute of Arts, 1960: Flanders in the Fifteenth Century, cat. no. 47; CMA, 1973: Dutch Art and Life in the 17th Century, no cat.; CMA, 1981: When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story, no cat.
  • {{cite web|title=The Nativity|url=false|author=Gerard David|year=c. 1485–90|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1958.320