The Nativity
1590–ca. 1620
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/2 × 2 3/8 in. (8.9 × 6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.601.12(53)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *The Nativity*, a delicate engraving attributed to the Flemish artist Justus Sadeler (or possibly anonymous within his workshop), created between 1590 and 1620. This print, measuring just 3½ × 2⅜ inches, captures the sacred moment of Christ's birth, featuring the Virgin, the infant Jesus, and attending angels in a tender, reverent composition. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and department, it was acquired through the Harris Brisbane Dick Fund 1953. Engravings like this one were a hallmark of late Renaissance and early Baroque printmaking, prized for their precision...
About the Artist
Anonymous|Justus Sadeler
In the vast tapestry of art history, "Anonymous" stands not as a singular individual but as a collective designation for countless unidentified creators whose works have endured across millennia. These artists, spanning prehistoric cave painters to medieval illuminators and folk craftsmen, produced the foundational layers of human visual culture. Prior to the Renaissance, when individual fame emer...