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Feb 21, 2007

The Nativity

c. 1485–1490

Gerard David

(Netherlandish, 1450/60–1523)

Netherlands, Bruges, 15th century

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.

Artist biography

Gerard David

Born in Oudewater (near Gouda), David probably trained in Haarlem. Admitted (as a foreigner) to the painters' guild in 1484, he was active there until his death in 1523. He was also inscribed in the painters' guild in Antwerp, 1515.

Provenance

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)

Citations

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

Exhibition history

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.

Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (6/8/2004 - 8/17/2004): "Gerard David and Flemish Landscape", fig. 16, p. 45.

Masterpieces of Flemish Art: Van Eyck to Bosch. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (co-organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1960).

Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962).

Dutch Art and Life in the Seventeenth Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10-September 2, 1973).

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).

Gerard David and Flemish Landscape. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (June 8-August 17, 2004).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=The Nativity|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1958.320|author=Gerard David|year=c. 1485–1490|access-date=22 March 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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The Nativity

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Gerard David

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