The Nativity

This Nativity by Pietro da Rimini, dating to around 1320, represents the early flowering of the Riminese school that produced some of the most emotionally powerful painting of the Italian Gothic period. Pietro, along with Giovanni Baronzio, was a leading figure in this regional tradition centered in Rimini and the Romagna, which developed a distinctive expressive style under the direct influence of Giotto's frescoes at the nearby Arena Chapel in Padua. The tender treatment of the Nativity subject reflects the Franciscan emphasis on the humanity of Christ that profoundly shaped Italian devotional art.

Painted in egg tempera on panel with gold ground, the scene displays the characteristic Riminese combination of Giottesque spatial awareness with a more emotionally heightened, expressionistic figure style. Pietro's handling of the drapery is broader and more fluid than the careful modeling of the Florentine school.