Painting Detail
NativityArtist: Gandolfino da Roreto
Medium: Painting, Tempera on canvas, 213x102 cm
Date: Late 15th - early 16th century
Genre: Religious, Christianity
Source: Stroganov Palace Museum, Leningrad, 1926
In the inventory of the Stroganov Palace this picture by Gandolfino da Roreto was mentioned as a work by an unknown German artist. The fairy-tale atmosphere of the scene, the landscape with a depiction of medieval towers and a cathedral, the lavish use of gold and the treatment of the folds remind of the works by North European masters. However, the painting harmoniously enters the circle of the works by artists of the Piemonte school, who often depicted the scene of the Nativity in the ruins with the presence of numerous tiny angels. The ruins of an ancient Roman building with a thatched roof symbolize both the place of Christ's birth and the crash of the pagan world that gives way to Christianity. The thistle in the foreground reminds of Christ's sufferings. One of His symbols is also a salamander that is depicted on the handle of Joseph's staff.