The Nativity (1460/70): Artwork and History

The Nativity (1460/70) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Unknown artist Italian, 15th century.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This traditional Nativity scene shows the baby Jesus sleeping in a manger with the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, shepherds, and angels around him. The Annunciation to the Shepherds appears above this scene; the shepherds are shown with their flocks beneath cherubs carrying a banner that contains the Gloria prayer. At the top and middle of the border is a medallion of God the Father, who points toward this scene; other border medallions feature the prophets. Perhaps inspired by Alesso Baldovinetti’s Nativity, this unknown artist was most likely active in Florence toward the end of the 15th century.

Object facts

• Title: The Nativity
• Date: 1460/70
• Artist attribution: Unknown artist Italian, 15th century
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Engraving in black on cream laid paper
• Dimensions: 23.8 × 16.6 cm (9 3/8 × 6 9/16 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1956.985

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.