The Nativity

Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)

ca. 1406–10 · Tempera on wood, gold ground · Robert Lehman Collection

Lorenzo Monaco, the leading painter in Florence in the early fifteenth century, was active as a painter of illuminated manuscripts, frescoes and panel paintings. A major proponent of the International Gothic style, his style is characterized by luminous color and graceful, rhythmic, flowing lines. In this exquisite depiction of the Nativity, the compositional elements are brilliantly adapted to the quatrefoil field, and the rich and subtle color harmonies reflect the artist's skill as a manuscript painter. Particularly striking is the nocturnal setting, which is suffused by the supernatural light emanating from the Christ Child and the angel. This panel formed part of a predella, which also included a Visitation, an Adoration of the Magi, and a Flight into Egypt believed to have come from an altarpiece of the Annunciation by Lorenzo Monaco (Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence).

Artist

Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)

Date

ca. 1406–10

Medium

Tempera on wood, gold ground

Department

Robert Lehman Collection

Credit line

Robert Lehman Collection, 1975