Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D , Case EL, Shelf 82, Box D

Nativity

Print
1504 (engraved)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Engraving by Albrecht Dürer, 'Nativity'; inscribed with date and artist's monogram. Mary kneels over the baby in an open loggia to the left while Joseph pours water from a well into a jug at right. Around and above them rise the ruinous stone arches and half-timbered walls of the ruinous stable architecture, crowned with a tree growing out of the remains of a wall. The deep shade of the stable contrasts with the brightly-lit landscape visible in the distance through the central arch, where the tiny detail of a descending angel can be seen.


Object details

Category
Object type
Titles
  • Nativity (generic title)
  • Christmas (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Engraving print on paper
Brief description
'The Nativity' by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528); engraving
Physical description
Engraving by Albrecht Dürer, 'Nativity'; inscribed with date and artist's monogram. Mary kneels over the baby in an open loggia to the left while Joseph pours water from a well into a jug at right. Around and above them rise the ruinous stone arches and half-timbered walls of the ruinous stable architecture, crowned with a tree growing out of the remains of a wall. The deep shade of the stable contrasts with the brightly-lit landscape visible in the distance through the central arch, where the tiny detail of a descending angel can be seen.
Dimensions
  • Height: 18.3cm
  • Width: 11.8cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'1504 / AD' (Inscribed illusionistically at upper left)
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic references
  • Strauss, Walter L., ed. The Illustrated Bartsch 10 (Commentary): Sixteenth Century German Artists, Albrecht Dürer. New York: Abaris Books, 1980. 328 p., ill. ISBN 089835000X. No.2, pp.15-18.
  • Heller, Joseph. Das Leben und die Werke Albrecht Dürer. Bamberg: 1827. Vols. 2 & 3 (vol. 1 was not published). No.127.
  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog: Ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna, 1932. No.2.
  • Dodgson, Campbell. Albrecht Dürer, Numerical Catalogue of the Engravings, Etchings, Dry-Points with Technical Details. London 1926. No.38.
  • Tietze, Hans and Erika Tietze-Conrat. Kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke Albrecht Dürers. Vol. 1, Augsburg 1928; vol.2, Basel and Leipzig 1937; vol.3, Basel and Leipzig, 1938. No.250
  • Panofsky, Erwin. Albrecht Dürer. Princeton 1943. (Addenda in the editions of 1945 and 1948). No.109.
  • Strauss, W.L. The Intaglio Prints of Albrecht Dürer . New York, 1977.
  • Bartrum, Giulia. Albrech Dürer and his Legacy: The Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist. London British Museum, 2002, p 150
  • Panofsky, Erwin. The Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, Accessions 1910, London, Printed for His Majesty’s Stationery Office 1911
Other number
B.2 - Le Peintre-Graveur
Collection
Accession number
E.4620-1910

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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