The Nativity
Historical Context
The Master of the Historia Friderici et Maximiliani painted this Nativity between 1507 and 1510, named after his illustrations for a historical chronicle of Emperors Frederick III and Maximilian I. This anonymous German painter worked in the tradition of the Danube School, combining precise observation of nature with the religious emotion characteristic of German devotional art during the Reformation era.
Technical Analysis
The oil on panel combines detailed naturalistic observation — particularly in the landscape and architectural setting — with the devotional intensity of German late Gothic religious painting. The warm palette and careful handling of light create an atmosphere of quiet reverence around the Nativity scene.
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.
