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Lot Essay
This finely painted Nativity, which emphasises the humble nature of Christ’s birth, offers an intimate portrayal of the Holy Family. Kneeling in a ruined stable, the Virgin gazes devoutly down at the Christ Child, His small and vulnerable body resting on a fold of her drapery, while Joseph is shown removing his hat as a sign of reverence. Through the arch of the crumbling building, an angel announces Christ’s miraculous birth to shepherds on the hillside, two of whom have already come to witness the event: their strongly characterised faces can be seen peering through a window on the right. The original function of this panel is not known. It may have stood on its own as an aid for private devotion, or functioned as part of a larger ensemble: as the central panel of a triptych; or as one of the panels of a polyptych, depicting scenes from the life of Christ or the Virgin.
The attribution of this panel has puzzled scholars for decades and remains the subject of debate. The painting was previously exhibited as a work by The Master of Hoogstraten, an artist active in Antwerp at the turn of the 15th century, who is named after a series of seven panels of the Sorrows of the Virgin (Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten), which were in the church of St. Catherine, Hoogstraten. Its composition is also reminiscent of works by the Bruges master Gerard David, such as the Nativity now in the Szépmuvészeti Múzeum, Budapest. However, as Peter van den Brink, Professor Dan Ewing, Till-Holger Borchert and Dr. Matthias Ubl have noted, the picture’s muted tonalities and cool palette, and the general stillness of the composition, seem to point to a Northern Netherlandish hand, possibly working under the influence of Geertgen tot Sint Jans, as first posited in 1936 and again in 1952 (see exhibited).
The Nativity once formed part of the collection of the celebrated physician, Sir Thomas Barlow. Barlow was appointed Physician to the Royal Household in 1896, and between 1899 and 1901 he served as Physician-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, and was present at her deathbed. He continued to hold court appointments under Kings Edward VII and George V. Barlow assembled a distinguished collection of Renaissance paintings from both North and South of the Alps, including Ercole de’Roberti’s Saint Jerome now in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
The attribution of this panel has puzzled scholars for decades and remains the subject of debate. The painting was previously exhibited as a work by The Master of Hoogstraten, an artist active in Antwerp at the turn of the 15th century, who is named after a series of seven panels of the Sorrows of the Virgin (Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten), which were in the church of St. Catherine, Hoogstraten. Its composition is also reminiscent of works by the Bruges master Gerard David, such as the Nativity now in the Szépmuvészeti Múzeum, Budapest. However, as Peter van den Brink, Professor Dan Ewing, Till-Holger Borchert and Dr. Matthias Ubl have noted, the picture’s muted tonalities and cool palette, and the general stillness of the composition, seem to point to a Northern Netherlandish hand, possibly working under the influence of Geertgen tot Sint Jans, as first posited in 1936 and again in 1952 (see exhibited).
The Nativity once formed part of the collection of the celebrated physician, Sir Thomas Barlow. Barlow was appointed Physician to the Royal Household in 1896, and between 1899 and 1901 he served as Physician-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, and was present at her deathbed. He continued to hold court appointments under Kings Edward VII and George V. Barlow assembled a distinguished collection of Renaissance paintings from both North and South of the Alps, including Ercole de’Roberti’s Saint Jerome now in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.