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The Nativity
by Gerard David
About the Artwork
The nativity was one of the most frequently depicted subjects in western art. The event marks the entrance of Christ into the world and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. In the distance an angel announces the birth of Christ to the shepherds tending their flocks. One shepherd is already at the stable adoring the Christ child. In the background, the cityscape represents Jerusalem, where Christ would be crucified, represented here as a northern medieval city. Only Matthew and Luke describe Christ’s nativity in the Gospels, which led medieval writers and artists to amplify the event. Some scholars have suggested that the head of Joseph is a donor portrait. Gerard David was born in Oudewater, now located in Utrecht. He spent his mature career in Bruges, where he was a member of the painters’ guild. Upon the death of Hans Memling in 1494, David became Bruges’s leading painter of devotional panels. He was also a manuscript illuminator.
Provenance
Possibly from a Russian coll.; Richard von Kaufmann, Berlin, 1898; (Cassirer and Helbing, Berlin sale, December 4, 1917, no. 78); Walter von Pannwitz, Berlin; Frau C. von Pannwitz, Hartekamp near Haarlem (1917); (Rosenberg & Stiebel, NY)
Exhibition history
Masterpieces of Flemish Art: Van Eyck to Bosch. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (co-organizer) (October 18-December 31, 1960). Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962). Dutch Art and Life in the Seventeenth Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10-September 2, 1973). When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982). Gerard David and Flemish Landscape. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (June 8-August 17, 2004).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Gerard David (Netherlandish, 1450/60–1523)
- Date
- c. 1485–90
- Medium
- oil on wood panel
- Dimensions
- Framed: 102.5 x 76 x 7.5 cm (40 3/8 x 29 15/16 x 2 15/16 in.); Unframed: 85.2 x 59.7 cm (33 9/16 x 23 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- Medieval Art
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Accession no.
- 1958.320
More by Gerard David in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009485
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