id: 118411 accession number: 1939.448 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1939.448 updated: 2022-01-04 15:18:28.413000 Life of the Virgin: The Nativity, 1470-75. Martin Schongauer (German, c.1450-1491). Engraving; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 1939.448 title: Life of the Virgin: The Nativity title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1470-75 creation date earliest: 1465 creation date latest: 1480 current location: creditline: Dudley P. Allen Fund copyright: --- culture: Germany, 15th century technique: engraving department: Prints collection: PR - Engraving type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Lehrs V.50.5 --- CREATORS * Martin Schongauer (German, c.1450-1491) - artist Martin Schongauer (ca. 1450-53, Colmar - 2 February 1491, Breisach) was one of the most skilled and influential graphic artists of Europe in the last quarter of the 15h century. Trained both as an engraver and as a painter, Schongauer started his apprenticeship under his father Caspar Schongauer, a goldsmith from Augsburg. In 1465, he matriculated at the University of Leipzig. After one year, he left his studies, and came back to Colmar. There, he was trained under the painter Caspar Isenmann, between 1466 and 1469. Schongauer later traveled down to the Rhine, Cologne, Burgundy, the Netherlands, and he likely visited Spain. In 1489, he became a citizen of Breisach, where he died probably of the plague in 1491. Only a few of Schongauer's paintings survive. Among these is the Madonna in the Rose Garden for the Church of Saint Martin in Colmar (1473), which betrays Schongauer's admiration for the works by the Netherlandish painter Roger Van der Weyden. The bulk of Schongauer's engravings is more conspicuous: 116 prints, none of them dated, but all marked by his monogram M+S. Characterized by exquisite cross-hatching and impeccable craftsmanship, Schongauer's engravings were widely imitated by the German printmakers Ishrael van Meckenem and Albrecht Durer, as well as by Italian artists, such as Cristoforo Robetta and Nicoletto da Modena. --- measurements: state of the work: I/I edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00 The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). title: Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints opening date: 1987-06-02T04:00:00 Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 2-August 2, 1987). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: In this example, Martin Schongauer's skill with the engraver's burin is on display in the extensive vocabulary of marks that delineate stones, foliage, vines, garment folds, human hair, and animal fur. digital description: This print of the Nativity is the first of a set of four engravings considered to be an incomplete series of episodes of the Life of the Virgin, which also includes the Adoration of the Magi (1942.1070), The flight into Egypt (1954.260), and The Death of the Virgin (1956.744). Here, Martin Schongauer portrayed the humble and private joy of the Virgin Mary in prayer as she adores the holy infant, who lies on the ground on a corner of her cloak. Joseph gazes tenderly at his wife and holds a lantern. The holy family is joined by the ox and the donkey. The scene takes place in the ruins of a vaulted Gothic edifice, from the top of which jubilant angels sing. From the arched entrance, three shepherds witness the nativity. In the distance, an angel heralds the miraculous birth to one of the shepherds. wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1939.448/1939.448_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1939.448/1939.448_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1939.448/1939.448_full.tif