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The Life of Christ: The Nativity
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Martin Schongauer was among the first artists to work extensively in engraving to create series on the life of Christ and the saints. Here, he portrayed the Virgin, clothed in elaborate drapery, gazing upon her newborn son in a simple setting. To produce this work, Schongauer carved directly into a copper plate, creating depth and tonal variation using a system of crosshatching and parallel lines. His technical skill was admired by a young Albrecht Dürer, who later depicted the same subject.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineThe Life of Christ: The Nativity, c. 1480–90. Martin Schongauer (German, c. 1450–1491). Engraving. The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund by exchange and Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland in memory of William Mathewson Milliken, 1978.85
