Mary and Joseph Adoring the Christ Child thumbnail 1
Mary and Joseph Adoring the Christ Child thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sacred Silver & Stained Glass, Room 84, The Whiteley Galleries

Mary and Joseph Adoring the Christ Child

Panel
ca. 1500-1510 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This small stained-glass panel was probably ordered from the workshop of Veit Hirschvogel in Nuremberg by Conrad IV Haller von Hallerstein, who owned the 'House of the Golden Shield'' on the Schildgasse in that city. The panel was located in the private chapel of the house with some others, including an Adoration of the Magi. We know this from a watercolour made of the windows in the chapel in 1854.

The story of the birth of Christ is found in the Gospels of the New Testament. From a very early date in Christian history, artists took various elements from these Gospels to form the image of the Nativity that is so familiar to us today.

The earliest images show Mary lying down, sometimes in what appears to be a cave, with the Christ Child swaddled in a crib by her side. Joseph appears in the background. In the later Middle Ages this type of representation began to change to the form we see depicted in this panel.

Here the Virgin Mary and Joseph kneel in adoration of the Christ Child, who lies on the ground between them. This change in the way that artists portrayed the Nativity is often attributed to the visions experienced by a Swedish woman, Bridget (about 1304-73). She recorded them in a book known as 'Revelations'. One of her visions portrayed the Nativity of Christ as we see it here.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMary and Joseph Adoring the Christ Child (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Stained glass
Brief description
Clear and coloured glass with painted details and yellow (silver) stain depicting the Nativity. Made in Germany (Nuremberg), c.1500-10.
Dimensions
  • Height: 39.4cm
  • Width: 26.7cm
Gallery label
THE NATIVITY This panel was probably commissioned by Conrad IV Haller von Hallerstein, who owned the 'House at the Golden Shield' on the Schildgasse in Nuremberg between 1503 and 1534. It was placed in the private chapel there, together with a number of other panels of stained and painted glass, and is shown in a watercolour of 1854, just prior to removal. Germany (Nuremberg), about 1500-10; Workshop of Veit Hirsvogel the Elder Museum no. 603-1872((PW) 2003)
Object history
This small stained glass panel was probably commissioned by Conrad IV Haller von Hallerstein who owned the 'House of the Golden Shield'', on the Schildgasse in Nuremberg. The panel was located in the private chapel of the house along with others such as an 'Adoration of the Magi'. This is known from a watercolour made of the windows in the chapel in 1854.

The panel was purchased from the firm of Abraham Pickert of Nuremberg.
Historical context
Veit Hirschvogel (1461-1525) ran a stained glass workshop and was a noted painter on glass. A painter known only as the 'Meister der Hennebergkopfes' worked in Hirschvogel's workshop.

The story of the birth of Christ is found in the Gospels of the New Testament. From very early on the Christian period, artists took various elements from these Gospels to form the image of the Nativity that is so familiar to us today.

The earliest forms of the representation of the Nativity show Mary lying down, sometimes in what appears to be a cave, with the Christ Child swaddled in a crib by her side. Joseph appears in the background. This type of representation began to change in the later middle ages to the form we see depicted in this panel.

Here we see Virgin Mary and Joseph kneel in adoration of the Christ Child lying on the ground between them. This change is often attributed to the visions experienced by a Swedish woman, Bridget (c.1304-1373). She recorded her visions in a book known as 'Revelations'. In one of these visions she saw the Nativity of Christ and described it as we see here in this panel.
Production
Possibly painted by the Master of the Hennebergkopfes who worked in the workshop of Veit Hirschvogel the Elder (1461-1525).
Subjects depicted
Summary
This small stained-glass panel was probably ordered from the workshop of Veit Hirschvogel in Nuremberg by Conrad IV Haller von Hallerstein, who owned the 'House of the Golden Shield'' on the Schildgasse in that city. The panel was located in the private chapel of the house with some others, including an Adoration of the Magi. We know this from a watercolour made of the windows in the chapel in 1854.

The story of the birth of Christ is found in the Gospels of the New Testament. From a very early date in Christian history, artists took various elements from these Gospels to form the image of the Nativity that is so familiar to us today.

The earliest images show Mary lying down, sometimes in what appears to be a cave, with the Christ Child swaddled in a crib by her side. Joseph appears in the background. In the later Middle Ages this type of representation began to change to the form we see depicted in this panel.

Here the Virgin Mary and Joseph kneel in adoration of the Christ Child, who lies on the ground between them. This change in the way that artists portrayed the Nativity is often attributed to the visions experienced by a Swedish woman, Bridget (about 1304-73). She recorded them in a book known as 'Revelations'. One of her visions portrayed the Nativity of Christ as we see it here.
Bibliographic references
  • Williamson, Paul. Medieval and Renaissance Stained Glass in the Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2003. ISBN 1851774041
  • G. Frenzel, 'Entwurf und Aussfuhrung in der Nurnberger Glasmalerei der Durerzeit', Zeitschrift fur Kunstwissenschaft XV, 1961
  • Scholz, Hartmut, Entwurf und Ausfuhrung. Werkstattpraxis in der Nurnberger Glasmalerei der Durerzeit, CVMA, Deutschland I, Berlin, 1991
Collection
Accession number
603-1872

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Record createdNovember 19, 2003
Record URL
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