The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

The Nativity

1553

Giorgio Ghisi

(Italian, 1520–1582)
published by

Hieronymus Cock

after Agnolo Bronzino

(Italian, 1503–1572)
Italy, 16th century
engraving
Overall: 67.5 x 45.6 cm (26 9/16 x 17 15/16 in.); Part 1: 32.9 x 45 cm (12 15/16 x 17 11/16 in.); Part 2: 34 x 45.6 cm (13 3/8 x 17 15/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1986.233
Catalogue raisonné: Lewis&Boorsch 14
Location: Not on view

Description

The inscriptions praise Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, emphasizing the great joys and inevitable sorrows that she is to endure in witnessing her son's life and death. After spending about five years in Rome, Ghisi left Italy around 1550 for Antwerp, the major commercial center in the Netherlands. There he worked with Hieronymus Cock (about 1510–1570), founder of the largest and best-known print publishing establishment in northern Europe, called The Four Winds. This print reproduces a painting of similar size by the artist Agnolo Bronzino (1513–1572), painted in the late 1530s for Filippo d'Averardo Salviati of Florence. Making a print based on a work belonging to a private individual was an unusual practice during the 16th century.
  • J. Burleigh James (19th century), Knowlbury Park, England, stamp (Lugt 1425), top sheet, lower left, in black ; purchased from (William H. Schab Gallery, Inc. 2/2/87)
  • Mannerism: Italian, French, and Netherlandish Prints, 1520-1620. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 3-October 26, 1997).
    Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 8/3/97 - 10/26/97. "Mannerism: Italian, French, and Netherlandish Prints, 1520-1620."
    Year in Review for 1986. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-March 15, 1987).
  • {{cite web|title=The Nativity|url=false|author=Giorgio Ghisi, Hieronymus Cock, Agnolo Bronzino|year=1553|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1986.233