The Nativity
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Museum

The Nativity

c. 1485–90
Gerard David (Netherlandish, 1450/60–1523) visual detail
ArtistGerard David (Netherlandish, 1450/60–1523)
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Market Intelligence

Observed sale facts, comparable evidence, artist index history and modeled research remain separate.

Public evidence
Last known price—0 matched observed sales
Observed median—
Observed sales0
Artist index—
No rights-cleared normalized observed sale is attached to this artwork. No synthetic price history is shown.
Artist index unavailableNo completed public artist-index build exists.Artist-level context is not an artwork valuation.

Comparable Sales

Same-artist public sales ranked by medium, creation year, dimensions and sale recency.

Evidence ranked
No public-rights comparable sales meet the current evidence criteria. RELICT does not fill the table with research-only or licensed-only facts.

Provenance

Public
Provenance event

Possibly from a Russian coll.; Richard von Kaufmann, Berlin, 1898; (Cassirer and Helbing, Berlin sal...

Source provenance text

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)

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Exhibitions

Public
Source exhibition text

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). Berlin, Kunstgeschichtliche Gesellschaft, 1898: Kunstwerke des Mittelalters und der Renaissance aus Berliner Privatbesitz, cat. no. 56; Rotterdam, Museum Boymans, 1939-1940: Schilderijen, beeldhouwerken en teekeningen uit particuliere verzameling in Nederland, cat. no. 12; The Hague, 1945: Nederlandsche kunst van de XVe en XVIe eeuw, cat. no. 45; Bruges, Musée Communal, 1949: Gerard David, cat. no. 6; Detroit Institute of Arts, 1960: Flanders in the Fifteenth Century, cat. no. 47; CMA, 1973: Dutch Art and Life in the 17th Century, no cat.; CMA, 1981: When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story, no cat. Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (6/8/2004 - 8/17/2004): "Gerard David and Flemish Landscape", fig. 16, p. 45.

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Related public works

Visual neighbours

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Sourced Overview Evidence

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.

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Evidence state

0 observed sales · 0 comparable sales · 1 structured provenance events · 5 structured exhibitions.

Place Of OriginShort DescriptionProvenance TextExhibition HistoryCredit Line