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The Nativity
Jaume Ferrer the Younger (Spanish, Catalonia died c. 1460/70)
c. 1457
- Medium
- oil, tempera, and gold on wood panel (fir)
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Framed: 187.3 x 139.1 x 14 cm (73 3/4 x 54 3/4 x 5 1/2 in.); Unframed: 172.7 x 124.4 cm (68 x 49 in.)
- Culture
- Spain, Catalonia, 15th century
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Medieval Art
- Credit line
- Gift of Francis Ginn, Marian Ginn Jones, Barbara Ginn Griesinger, and Alexander Ginn in memory of Frank Hadley Ginn and Cornelia Root Ginn
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This painting is believed to be a remaining component of a six-panel altarpiece. The large central panel is now preserved in the Museu National d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona. Ferrer collaborated with the painter Pere Garcia de Benavarri on this commission. Spanish works like these often feature elaborate treatment of the gold background, evident here in the exuberant raised decoration (called pastiglia) in the haloes. As a symbol of his dominion over the world, Christ holds an orb in his left hand; he bestows a blessing with his right hand. The Virgin kneels above him in rapt adoration. Using the wattle fence almost as a church pew, two shepherds express humble piety; one removes his hat and the other clasps his hands in prayer.
