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Source Description
These eight woodcuts (1959.99.8–15) progress from Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would bear the Son of God, to the events of her early motherhood and beyond. This included the joy of sharing her pregnancy with her cousin Elizabeth, Jesus’s birth, and the subsequent arrival of the magi. After Jesus’s circumcision and presentation at the temple the Holy Family fled to Egypt to avoid Herod and stayed there for several years. The seemingly out of place last scene shows a glimpse of their daily life in Egypt as Joseph continues his carpentry and Mary spins wool. The Holy Family is surrounded by angels and helpful putti and are blessed by God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove overhead.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
136174
label
The Nativity
core
obj
dtoType
print
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
136174
contentType
print
title
The Nativity
description
These eight woodcuts (1959.99.8–15) progress from Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would bear the Son of God, to the events of her early motherhood and beyond. This included the joy of sharing her pregnancy with her cousin Elizabeth, Jesus’s birth, and the subsequent arrival of the magi. After Jesus’s circumcision and presentation at the temple the Holy Family fled to Egypt to avoid Herod and stayed there for several years. The seemingly out of place last scene shows a glimpse of their daily life in Egypt as Joseph continues his carpentry and Mary spins wool. The Holy Family is surrounded by angels and helpful putti and are blessed by God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove overhead.
date
c. 1502–3
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q18338567
creators
11617
genreSpecific
Print
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 29.3 x 20.8 cm (11 9/16 x 8 3/16 in.)
cul
Germany, early 16th Century
accession
1959.99.10
Source extras
tec
woodcut
tombstone
The Life of the Virgin: The Nativity, c. 1502–3. Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Woodcut; sheet: 29.3 x 20.8 cm (11 9/16 x 8 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1959.99.10
series
The Life of the Virgin
collection
PR - Woodcut
formerAccessionNumbers
1959.108
citations
citation
Dürer, Albrecht. <em>The Life of the Virgin</em>. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1959.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 10; Plate X
citation
Haines, Claudia, Rebekkah Hart, and Emma Lazerson. “Birth.” In <em>Creation and (Re)birth, </em>edited by Gerhard Lutz, and Elina Gertsman, 8-12. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2024.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 11, fig. 11
citation
"Permanent Collection Installations.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine</em> 64, no. 4 (2024): 14-15.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 14; Mentioned: p. 15
catalogueRaisonne
Meder 197
creditline
Dudley P. Allen Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:56:43.787000
sourceId
136174
dept
Prints
coll
PR - Woodcut
med
woodcut
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
773b890a74247add