Nativity of the Virgin (Altdorfer)

Painting by Albrecht Altdorfer

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Nativity of the Virgin

Artist| Albrecht Altdorfer
Year| c. 1520
Medium| Oil on panel
Dimensions| 140.7 cm × 130 cm (55.4 in × 51 in)
Location| Alte Pinakothek, Munich

The Nativity of the Virgin is an oil-on-panel painting by the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Altdorfer, dating to c. 1520, which is now in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

## Description

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The work uses a scenic composition typical of the Danube school of the time. The subject, the birth of Mary, is shown in a secondary location in the lower part of the painting. It includes St. Anne's bed, the midwives with the daughter. St. Joachim, having been out for provisions, returns with a bundle slung from his staff across his shoulder.[1]

The predominant part of the work is the church background, where angels fly to form a large circle: in the middle is a young angel with a thurible for incense.

The edifice, symbolizing the analogy between Mary and the Catholic church (a subject later abolished by the Protestant Reformation), is organized in a complicated and original fashion: the ambulatory and the column galleries are Romanesque, the ogival windows are Gothic, the vaults and the shell-shaped niches are in Renaissance style. This attention to architectural elements was typical of Altdorfer's work in the period he spent at the court of Maximilian I.

## References

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1. ^ Moore, Thomas Sturge. Altdorfer. London 1900, London. At the Sign of the Unicorn. 1900, p.14

## Sources

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* Zuffi, Stefano (2005). Il Cinquecento (in Italian). Milan: Electa. ISBN 9788837034689.

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Albrecht Altdorfer

List of landscapes

Paintings|

* Saint George in the Forest (1510)
* The Victory of Charlemagne over the Avars near Regensburg (1518)
* Saint Florian Taking Leave of the Monastery (c. 1518–1520)
* The Martyrdom of Saint Florian (c. 1518–1520)
* Christ Taking Leave of His Mother (c. 1520)
* Nativity of the Virgin (c. 1520)
* Susanna and the Elders (1526)
* The Battle of Alexander at Issus (1529)

Related|

* Art in the Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation
* Danube School
* Erhard Altdorfer (brother)
* 8121 Altdorfer

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