The Nativity of the Virgin / Sano di Pietro
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1977/2.1
- Title
- The Nativity of the Virgin
- Artist
- Sano di Pietro
- Artist Nationality
- Italian
- Artist Life Dates
- 1405-1481
- Medium and Support
- tempera and gold on panel
- Object Creation Date
- 1448-1452
- Object Creation Place
- Europe (continent)
- Italy (nation)
- Tuscany (region)
- Siena (province)
- Siena (inhabited place)
- Creation Place 1
- Europe (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Italy (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Tuscany (region)
- Creation Place 4
- Siena (province)
- Creation Place 5
- Siena (inhabited place)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase made possible by the Thirtieth Anniversary Project and the Friends of the Museum of Art
- Style/Group/Movement
- Early Renaissance
- Dimensions
- 41.7 cm x 57 cm x 3.5 cm (16 7/16 in. x 22 7/16 in. x 1 3/8 in.)
- Century
- 15th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- panel painting
- Secondary Object Classification
- Ritual Objects
- Secondary Object Type
- altarpiece
- Physical Description
- This painted panel depicts an intimate domestic setting consisting of a bedchamber with a fireplace and a smaller vaulted antechamber that opens out on a garden. A haloed woman wearing a white veil rests in bed, having recently given birth. She leans to her right as she reaches toward a basin held by an attendant and looks across the room to the infant who is held on the lap of another servant. A halo also encircles the head of the child and a pair of angels fly above her. Several other attendants and midwives bustle about the room, while another woman, more richly clad than the servants, gazes on the child from her seat at the foot of the bed. In the antechamber sits a haloed man in a long white beard, who leans forward to hear news of the birth from the child standing in front of him. A companion sits behind him and a servant passes through the door into the bedchamber.
- Subject Matter
- A comfortable household provides the setting for the birth of the Virgin Mary depicted in this panel. St. Anne, Mary's mother, lies in bed and turns to gaze toward her daughter, who is held on the lap of an attendant sitting by the fire. Other attendants and midwives move about the room while a more richly clad woman, possibly St. Elizabeth, sits at the foot of the bed, looking at Mary. In the antechamber the haloed figure of Joachim receives news of the birth from the child standing before him.
- Primary Keywords
- altarpieces
- beds (furniture)
- births
- christianity
- interior perspectives
- siena (inhabited place)
- Secondary Keywords
- associated concepts
- drawings
- drawings by method of projection
- drawings by method of representation
- europe (continent)
- events
- furnishings
- furnishings by form or function
- furniture
- furniture by form or function
- geographic and political locations
- italy (nation)
- objects we use
- people and culture
- personal life events
- perspective drawings
- religions
- religions and religious concepts
- religious visual works
- siena (province)
- sleeping and reclining furniture
- tuscany (region)
- visual works
- visual works by function
- visual works by medium or technique
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1399 x 919
- File Size
- 144 KB
- Record
- 1977/2.1
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1977-sl-2.1/1977_2.1.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
IIIF
- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1977-SL-2.1:1977_2.1.JPG
Cite this Item
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- Full citation
-
"The Nativity of the Virgin; Sano di Pietro." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1977-sl-2.1/1977_2.1.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2024.
