The Nativity, Nicolaus Alexander Mair
Nicolaus Alexander Mair
The Nativity
de
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Nicolaus Alexander Mair

The Nativity, 1499


Blatt
201 x 137 mm
Physical Description
Engraving
Inventory Number
33652
Object Number
33652 D
Acquisition
Acquired in 1860 as a gift from Johann David Passavant
Status
Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

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About the Work

A framing architecture – enlivened by small figures unmentioned in the biblical narrative of Christ's birth – opens the view onto a pictorial world inviting further discovery: Mary sitting in a courtyard and tenderly cradling the new-born Christ; Joseph, bending over a wooden parapet on the left, an ox and a donkey, a shepherd looking out of a window in the central back and two angels are present in this intimate scene. The intricate, robust buildings with their false alignment seem surreal but reflect the ‘modern’ interests of artists around 1500 in the construction of perspective and a realistic spatial representation.

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Last update

26.11.2024