
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00000674The Nativity
Provenance
Dr. H. C. Krüger, Berlin [letter from Julius Böhler to Ilse Hecht, May 21, 1980, in curatorial file.]. Böhler and Steinmeyer, Lucerne, shortly before 1933 [letter cited abve and another to Ilse Hecht, June 10, 1980, in which Böhler stated that the picture would have been acquired by the firm only one or two years before it was sold to the Art Institute]; sold to the Art Institute, 1933.
Exhibition history
Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress, 1934, no. 1, as attributed to Albrecht Altdorfer. Art Institute of Chicago, Glad Tidings of Great Joy, 1993–94 (no cat.).
Publications
Gustav Pauli, “A German Art Critic Visits America,” American-German Review 2, 1 (1935), p. 29 (ill.). Charles L. Kuhn, A Catalogue of German Paintings of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in American Collections, Cambridge, Mass., 1936, pp. 71–72, no. 310, pl. 62. Otto Benesch, “Donaukunst: Zur Eröffnung der Münchner Altdorfer-Ausstellung,” Österreichische Kunst 9 (1938), pp. 22–23 (ill.). Otto Benesch, “Die Tafelmalerei des 1. Drittels des 16. Jahrhunderts in Österreich,” in Die bildende Kunst in Ös-terreich, vol. 3, Gotische Zeit, ed. Karl Ginhart, Baden bei Wien, 1938, p. 141; repr. Benesch, Collected Writings, vol. 3, ed. Eva Ben-esch, London, 1972, p. 6. Ernst Buchner, Albrecht Altdorfer und sein Kreis: Gedächtnisausstellung zum 400. Todesjahr Altdorfers, exh. cat., Munich, Neue Staatsgalerie, Munich, 1938, p. 148, under no. 677. Frederick A. Sweet, “The Nativity Attributed to Albrecht Aldorfer,” Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago 34 (1940), pp. 2–3 (cover ill.). The Art Institute of Chicago, A Brief Illustrated Guide to the Collections, 1941, p. 28 (ill.). Regina Shoolman and Charles E. Slatkin, The Enjoyment of Art in America, Philadelphia and New York, 1942, p. 507, pl. 444. The Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, 1945, p. 30 (ill.). The Art Institute of Chicago, A Picture Book: Masterpieces of Painting, XV and XVI Centuries in the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, 1946, pp. 1, 22–24 (ill.). The Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, 1948, p. 27 (ill.). Helen Parker, The Christmas Story: Illustrated from the Collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1949, n.pag. (ill.). “Meister von Pulkau,” in Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, vol. 37, 1950, p. 282. Franz Winzinger, Albrecht Altdorfer Zeichnungen, Munich, 1952, pp. 55, 103, under nos. 137–38. Erwin Panofsky, Early Netherlandish Painting: Its Origins and Character, Cambridge, Mass., 1953, p. 470. Walther Bu-chowiecki, Geschichte der Malerei in Wien, Geschichte der Stadt Wien, n.s. 7, 2, Vienna, 1955, p. 40. The Art Institute of Chicago, An Illustrated Guide to the Collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, 1956, p. 27 (ill.). Otto Ben-esch and Erwin M. Auer, Die Historia Friderici et Maximiliani, Berlin, 1957, pp. 44–46, 51, 100, 128, no. 3b, fig. 9. Karl Oettinger, Altdorfer-Studien, Nuremberg, 1959, pp. 122–23. The Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in The Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection, 1961, p. 302. Alexa von Aufsess, Die Altarwerkstatt des Paul Lautensack unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer Verbindung zur Werkstatt des Pulkauer Altars, Baden-Baden and Strasbourg, 1963, pp. 47–48, 74 n. 140. Alfred Stange, Malerei der Donauschule, Munich, 1964, pp. 114, 149, no. 3b, fig. 202. Fritz Dworschak, “Der Meister der Historia (Niclas Preu), Niederösterreich und Nachbargebiete,” in Die Kunst der Donauschule, 1490–1540, exh. cat., Stift Sankt Florian and Schlossmuseum Linz, 1965, p. 97. Maria Magda-lena Zykan, “Der Buchschmuck Johann Winterburgers und der Donaustil,” in Werden und Wandlung: Studien zur Kunst der Donauschule, Linz, 1967, p. 48. John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago, London, 1970, pp. 253 (ill.), 283. Franz Winzinger, Albrecht Altdorfer: Die Gemälde, Munich and Zurich, 1975, pp. 59, 128, no. 103, fig. 103. Margit Stadlober, “Der Hochaltar der Heiligblutkirche zu Pulkau: Dissertation Graz 1982,” Das Münster 37 (1984), pp. 236–38. Margit Stadlober, “Die Vision des heiligen Bernhard vom Meister der Historia Friderici et Maximiliani, ein Werk der frühen Donauschule,” in Orient und Okzident im Spiegel der Kunst: Festschrift Heinrich Gerhard Franz zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. Günter Brucher et al., Graz, 1986, pp. 365, 372, 374, 376–77. Art Institute of Chicago, Glad Tidings of Great Joy, Chicago, 1993, pp. 16–17 (ill.), 39. Mitchell B. Merback, “Fount of Mercy, City of Blood: Cultic Anti-Judaism and the Pulkau Passion Altar-piece,” Art Bull. 87 (2005), p. 591. Martha Wolff in Martha Wolff et al., Northern European and Spanish Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 2008, pp. 385-91, ill.
Data retrieved from the Art Institute of Chicago on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Master of Pulkau (Bavarian or Austrian, active c. 1505–1520)
- Date
- 1507–10
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Dimensions
- 111.4 × 74.1 cm (44 5/8 × 29 3/16 in.); Framed: 120.4 × 82.6 × 3.9 cm (47 3/8 × 32 1/2 × 1 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- painting
- Style
- sixteenth century
- Place
- Austria
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
- Credit line
- Wilson L. Mead Fund
- Accession no.
- 1933.799
Open-access museum record · AT-00000674
Powered by Art Trackers