Master of the Castello Nativity, 'The Nativity', about 1457
About the work
Overview
This scene shows the holy family – the Virgin Mary, Joseph and Jesus Christ – just after Christ’s birth in a stable. The artist has set the scene in surroundings familiar to contemporary viewers: the towers of a town that resembles fifteenth-century Tuscany are visible in the distance. On the hillside are two shepherds; one looks up towards golden rays that have appeared in the night sky. According to the Gospel of Luke, an angel appeared to them to announce Christ’s birth.
This picture comes from the predella (the lowest part) of an altarpiece made for Santi Giusto e Clemente in Faltugnano, Tuscany. Two other predella panels, both showing stories from the lives of the church’s patron saints, Giusto and Clemente, are now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Nativity
- Artist dates
- active mid 15th century
- Date made
- about 1457
- Medium and support
- egg tempera on wood
- Dimensions
- 22.2 × 66.2 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Sir Henry Howorth through the Art Fund in memory of Lady Howorth, 1922
- Inventory number
- NG3648
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Dillian Gordon, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Italian Paintings’, vol. 1, London 2003; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2013Da Donatello a Lippi. Officina PrateseMuseo Civico (Prato)14 September 2013 - 13 January 2014
Bibliography
-
1903J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in Italy, Umbria, Florence and Siena, from the Second to the Sixteenth Century, ed. R.L. Douglas, 2nd edn, 6 vols, London 1903
-
1921R. Fry, 'Pictures at the Burlington Fine Arts Club', The Burlington Magazine, XXXVIII, 1921, pp. 131-48
-
1922C. Holmes, 'Recent Additions to the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, XLI, 1922, pp. 76-87
-
1923R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols, The Hague 1923
-
1930A. Schmarsow, 'Zur Masolino-Masaccio-Forschung', Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, 1930, pp. 1-3
-
1930W. Stechow, 'Zum Masolino-Masaccio-Problem', Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, II, 1930, pp. 125-7
-
1933M. Salmi, Masaccio, Rome 1933
-
1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
-
1957A. Parronchi, 'Le fonti di Paolo Uccello: I perspettivi passati', Paragone, LXXXIX/8, 1957, pp. 3-33
-
1963B. Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: A List of the Principal Artists and Their Work, with an Index of Places: Florentine School, 2 vols, New York 1963
-
1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
-
1993P. Joannides, Masaccio and Masolino: A Complete Catalogue, London 1993
-
1993P.L. Roberts, Masolino da Panicale, Oxford 1993
-
1994A. Thomas, An Illustrated Dictionary of Narrative Painting, London 1994
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
-
2003Gordon, Dillian, National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Italian Paintings, 1, London 2003
-
2004C. Sembenelli, Fra Carnevale: Un artista rinascimentale da Filippo Lippi a Piero della Francesca (exh. cat. Pinacoteca di Brera, 13 October 2004 - 9 January 2005; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1 February - 1 May 2005), Milan 2004
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.