The Nativity

c. 1480/1490

Martin Schongauer

Associated Names
Martin Schongauer

Artist, German, c. 1450 - 1491

This is a drawing of an nativity scene. The image features a woman with a halo kneeling in prayer beside a manger where a baby lies. Surrounding her are two animals, an ox and a donkey, which are gazing towards the baby. Above the woman, cherubs are flying, and on the left, in the distant landscape, two figures can be seen approaching. The drawing captures the folds of the woman's attire and the expressions on the figures. The scene appears to celebrate a calm event set within a simple setting adorned with rural and spiritual elements.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 16 x 15.3 cm (6 5/16 x 6 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1944.2.72

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Hollstein, no. 4, State only

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

The British Museum, London (duplicate, Lugt 300 and 305); (Richard Zinser, Forest Hills); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], 1943; gift to NGA, 1944.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1960

  • Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 1960, no cat.

1966

  • Masters of Etching and Engraving from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, Peoria, IL, 1966, no. 2, repro.

1967

  • Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., NGA, 1967-1968, no. 74, repro.

1973

  • Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Prints of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art Rosenwald Collection, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1973, no. 22.

1988

  • Graphic Survey Show, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., June 1988.

Bibliography

1908

  • Lehrs, Max. Geschichte und kritischer Katalog des deutschen, niederlandischen und franzosischen Kupferstichs im XV. Jahrhundert. 9 vols. and 1 plate vol. Vienna: Gesellschaft fur vervielfaltigende Kunst, 1908-1934.

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. German engravings, etchings and woodcuts ca. 1400-1700. 8 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1954-1868. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. Vols. I-XV, XVIII, XIX. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberge

1967

  • Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth Century Engravings of Northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. Exh. cat. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1967: no. 74.

Watermarks

bull's head with staff and star (close to Briquet 15,054)

Wikidata ID

Q65023692

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