The nativity

Antoniazzo Romano (active after 1461, died 1508 or 1509)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1480s

Height:

129.2 cm  (50 7/8 in.)

Width:

67.3 cm  (26 1/2 in.)

Technique / Medium:

tempera on wood

Place of creation:

Roma

Description

This work was painted about 1482—when a team of Florentine and Umbrian painters were decorating the walls of the Sistine Chapel. Antoniazzo, a native of Rome, responded especially to the presence of Perugino and Ghirlandaio. He sets his depiction of the nativity—one of three scenes from the base (predella) of an altarpiece—in a landscape suggestive of Lazio, the region around Rome. In the center of the Nativity scene, on both sides shepherds with flock, the shepherd on the right side seated and playing what appears to be a shawm (with full cheeks); above the Nativity scene are two angels singing from a music score (music not visible).

People as subjects

Jesus Christ
St. Mary (Blessed Virgin)
St. Joseph (born late 1st century BCE, died 1st century CE)

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Shawm [4258]

Musical works

illegible music notation

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

218