Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–5 public

The Nativity

A work made of stucco and polychrome.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of stucco and polychrome.

Date:

c. 1465

Artist:

Donatello, Circle of
Italian, 1386/7-1466

About this artwork

This relief shows the Virgin worshipping the Christ Child, framed by an ox and an ass, while Saint Joseph sleeps at the right. It is typical of a kind of popular, devotional image from the 15th century that could be mechanically reproduced. This composition exists in numerous replicas, which attest to its popularity, and appears to derive from a directly modeled terracotta prototype, now in Prato, Italy. The Virgin and Child are based on an autograph terracotta by Donatello, but the remainder of the composition appears to have been expanded by another hand.

Status

On View, Gallery 238

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

School of Donato di Niccolò Donatello

Title

The Nativity

Place

Italy (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1460–1470

Medium

Stucco and polychrome

Dimensions

72.4 × 78.7 × 12.1 cm (28 1/2 × 31 × 4 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection

Reference Number

1933.1007

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/16143/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share