Nativity
before 1761
Medium
Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash with white heightening on brown paper. Incised for transfer. Reddened on verso with chalk
Dimensions
5 7/8 x 3 3/4 in. (15 x 9.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1962
Accession Number
62.501.41
Tags
Art Historical Context
Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner a prominent Bavarian Rococo artist in the mid-18th century, this delicate *Nativity* drawing before 1761. Depicting the Madonna and Child surrounded by angels in a tender birth scene, it exemplifies the ornate, graceful style of Rococo religious art, which emphasized light, movement, and emotional intimacy over the grandeur of Baroque predecessors. Baumgartner, known for his frescoes and engravings in churches across southern Germany, often produced such preparatory works to capture the divine serenity of sacred moments. Executed on brown paper with pen and black i...
About the Artist
Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner
Comment on works: Religious; Mythology