Episodes from the Life of Christ: Nativity with an Inscription

probably 18th or 19th century

Northern Italian 18th or 19th Century

This round image depicts a scene with three main human figures and several animals. In the center of the composition is a child, fully shown, lying in a manger. To the left of the child is a bearded man standing, shown from the shoulders up, holding a staff. To the right, a woman with long hair is shown similarly from the shoulders up, with her hands pressed together prayerfully. Both figures have halos over their heads. Above the child and the two adults is an angel, also with a halo, holding a banner that reads "GLORIA IN EXELSIS DEO." Flanking the manger, there is a depiction of two animals, likely an ox and a donkey, with their heads closely positioned near the child. The background features a simple stable structure with wooden beams and thatched roofing. The entire scene is rendered in a monochromatic style with cross-hatching details that give it texture, set on a circular dark background.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    nielloed silver

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    diameter: 4.2 cm (1 5/8 in.)
    engraved composition: 4 cm (1 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1961.9.154

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Collection of Leopoldo Cicognara [1767-1834], Venice;[1] Enrico Conti, Milan, before 1917(?); Trivulzio collection, Milan, after 1917; [2] (Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, 1878-1955, Rome and Florence);[3] purchased 26 June 1935 by Samuel H. Kress (1863-1955), New York; gift 27 September 1950 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1961 to NGA.
[1] Laura Aldovini, _I Nielli Trivulzio. Storia, Tecnica, Collezionismo,_Milan, 2021: 239.
[2] Aldovini, I Nielli Trivulzio, 239.
[3] The bill of sale included sculptures, maiolicas, furniture, antique velvets, paintings, and enamels, for a total of one hundred objects. Copy in NGA curatorial files. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, (https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/acquisitions/ACQ143).

Associated Names

Bibliography

2021

  • Aldovini, Laura. I Nielli Trivulzio. Storia, Tecnica, Collezionismo. Milan, 2021: 83, 94, 159, 236, 239-242, 273, no. 66, fig. 49, pl. XVII.

Inscriptions

on top center on banderole: GLORIA IN EXELSIS DEO

Wikidata ID

Q63854490

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