The Birth of Christ
about 1510/20 | Michiel Sittow
Like “The Birth of Christ” by Gerard David, this picture is based on a composition by Hugo van der Goes, the original of which has been lost. The real theme of the painting is the depiction of the light emanating primarily from the Christ child and surrounded by weaker sources of light distributed in a subtle manner: the candles of the angel and Joseph, the lanterns of the shepherds in the background and the distant fires in the field. The attribution to Sittow, a painter of Estonian origin who trained in the Netherlands and worked in Spain, is not certain.
Like “The Birth of Christ” by Gerard David, this picture is based on a composition by Hugo van der Goes, the original of which has been lost. The real theme of the painting is the depiction of the light emanating primarily from the Christ child and surrounded by weaker sources of light distributed in a subtle manner: the candles of the angel and Joseph, the lanterns of the shepherds in the background and the distant fires in the field. The attribution to Sittow, a painter of Estonian origin who trained in the Netherlands and worked in Spain, is not certain.
Attributed to:
Michiel Sittow (1468 - 1525 Reval) DNB
Copy after:
Hugo van der Goes (?) (um 1440 Gent - 1482 Rode Klooster bei Brüssel) DNB
Time:
about 1510/20
Object Name
Painting
Culture
Early Netherlandish
Material/technology:
oak wood
Dimensions:
links 2,5 cm angesetzt, oben geschweift: Overall: 113 x 84 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 5878
Provenance
Coll. Leopold Wilhelm; 1896 from Laxenburg Castle into the gallery;