The Nativity

Art Historical Context

Behold *The Nativity*, a engraving collaboratively attributed to Dutch masters Jacob Math and Abraham Bloemaert. This intimate print, measuring just 9 x 6 inches, captures the sacred moment of Christ's birth, centering the Madonna and Child amid the humble stable scene—a timeless motif in Christian art. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, it entered the collection through the generous bequest of Phyllis Massar 2011. Engraving, the medium here, was a pinnacle of technical virtuosity in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, especially in the Netherlands during the Golden Age. Artists like Matham, a skilled reproductive engraver, and Bloemaert, a versatile Utrecht painter who also etched, used burins to incise fine lines into copper plates, yielding richly detailed images that could be printed in multiples. This technique democratized religious iconography, allowing devotional works like this Nativity to reach households beyond elite patrons. Though the exact date remains unknown, the print reflects the era's blend of Mannerist elegance and emerging naturalism, inviting contemplation of divine humility. A charming window into early modern piety, it reminds us how such small-scale treasures illuminated faith for everyday viewers.

About the Artist

Jacob Matham|Abraham Bloemaert · 1571–1631

**Jacob Matham: Master Engraver of Haarlem** Jacob Matham was born on October 15, 1571, in Haarlem, in the Northern Netherlands, into a burgeoning artistic milieu. Following his father's early death, his mother married the renowned painter and engraver Hendrick Goltzius in 1579, who adopted the young Jacob and trained him rigorously in the workshop as his stepson and pupil. Matham's first signed ...