The Nativity

c. 1507

Benedetto Montagna

Associated Names
Benedetto Montagna

Artist, Italian, c. 1480 - 1555 or 1558

The image shows a group of people standing and kneeling around a seated woman holding a child. The woman is covered in a draped garment and has a headdress, with her face looking down at the child. The child is sitting on her lap. To the right, an older man is seated with raised hands. To the left, a figure kneels holding a staff, wearing a cloak and robe. Other figures, including children, are present. The setting includes rustic architecture with brick arches, a wooden structure, and foliage. The background shows ruins of an old building with exposed roof beams and plant growth.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 16.6 x 11 cm (6 9/16 x 4 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.6241

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Hind 'Engravings', Vol. 5, p.182, no. 23, State only

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

G.R. Cardew (Lugt 1134); Paul J. Sachs (Lugt 2091); purchased 1938 by Lessing J. Rosenwald; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1973

  • Prints of the Italian Renaissance, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1973, no. 245.

Bibliography

1938

  • Hind, Arthur M. Early Italian Engraving; a critical catalogue with complete reproductions of all the prints described. 7 vols. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd., 1938-1948.

1973

  • Levenson et al. 1973, no.126.

Wikidata ID

Q65019155

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