● On view now — 112 Northern Renaissance
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · verified August 2026
FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG
The nativity was one of the most frequently depicted subjects in western art. The event marks the entrance of Christ into the world and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. In the distance an angel announces the birth of Christ to the shepherds tending their flocks. One shepherd is already at the stable adoring the Christ child. In the background, the cityscape represents Jerusalem, where Christ would be crucified, represented here as a northern medieval city. Only Matthew and Luke describe Christ’s nativity in the Gospels, which led medieval writers and artists to amplify the event. Some scholars have suggested that the head of Joseph is a donor portrait. Gerard David was born in Oudewater, now located in Utrecht. He spent his mature career in Bruges, where he was a member of the painters’ guild. Upon the death of Hans Memling in 1494, David became Bruges’s leading painter of devotional panels. He was also a manuscript illuminator.
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Gerard David — The Nativity
Adriaen Isenbrant — The Adoration of the Shepherds
South Netherlandish Painter — The Nativity
Juan de Flandes — The Nativity
Geertgen tot Sint Jans — De aanbidding van de koningen
Gerard David — The Nativity with Donors and Saints Jerome an
Juan de Flandes (Netherlandish, c. 1460–1519) — The Birth an
Hans Baldung Grien — Saint Anne with the Christ Child, the V
Master of the Prado "Adoration of the Magi" — The Presentati
Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen — The Adoration of the Christ 
Follower of Robert Campin — Madonna and Child with Saints in
Bernard van Orley — Rest on the Flight into Egypt
