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The Nativity

ca. 1406–10
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 952
Lorenzo Monaco, the leading painter in Florence in the early fifteenth century, was active as a painter of illuminated manuscripts, frescoes and panel paintings. A major proponent of the International Gothic style, his style is characterized by luminous color and graceful, rhythmic, flowing lines. In this exquisite depiction of the Nativity, the compositional elements are brilliantly adapted to the quatrefoil field, and the rich and subtle color harmonies reflect the artist's skill as a manuscript painter. Particularly striking is the nocturnal setting, which is suffused by the supernatural light emanating from the Christ Child and the angel. This panel formed part of a predella, which also included a Visitation, an Adoration of the Magi, and a Flight into Egypt believed to have come from an altarpiece of the Annunciation by Lorenzo Monaco (Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Nativity
  • Artist: Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) (Italian, Florence (?) ca. 1370–1425 Florence (?))
  • Date: ca. 1406–10
  • Medium: Tempera on wood, gold ground
  • Dimensions: 8 3/4 x 12 1/4 in. (22.2 x 31.1 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.66
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

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4720. The Nativity

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More Artwork

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Three Virtues (Temperance, Hope, and Fortitude or Justice) and Studies of a Seated Man, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Metalpoint, touches of brush and brown wash, heightened with white (partially oxidized in the figure at the lower left), on reddish violet prepared paper. Some lines retraced in pen and brown ink at a later date., Italian, Florence
Three Virtues (Temperance, Hope, and Fortitude or Justice) and Studies of a Seated Man
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1420
Last Judgment in an Initial C, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Tempera and gold on parchment
Last Judgment in an Initial C
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1406–7
The Crucified Christ between the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
The Crucified Christ between the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1406
Abraham, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
Abraham
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1408–10
Moses, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
Moses
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1408–10

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