The Nativity

Entry

This Nativity quite faithfully reflects the vision of St Bridget of Sweden (d. 1373), as told in her Revelationes (Revelations).¹ Depicted within the confines of the stable, Mary and Joseph kneel before the new-born, naked Christ Child. In the background, two shepherds peer through the window, with the right-hand figure removing his hat in a gesture of respect or greeting. Mary’s hands are folded in prayer, following convention. Joseph, who typically holds a candle, instead raises both hands in a gesture of wonder. Rather than resting on the train of Mary’s cloak, as described by St Bridget, the child lies on the foremost section of a feeding trough, from which the ox in the background takes a bite of straw. The resemblance of this improvised crib to an altar or sarcophagus perhaps refers to Christ’s impending death on the cross.²

Despite the relief’s relatively shallow depth, the woodcarver has managed to achieve a marked spatial effect through the tactical placement of the stable’s roof, rendered in perspective, and the pierced window. A more exact determination of the work’s origin is precluded by damage to the surface, particularly evident in the faces, likely the result of removing the polychromy with a caustic. Two high-relief depictions of the Nativity preserved in the Museum Catharijneconvent, compositionally similar to the present piece, are both convincingly interpreted as works produced in Utrecht in the late fifteenth century.³ As the Amsterdam relief (in its current state) displays no distinct stylistic characteristics common to Utrecht, however, it is more broadly designated as ‘Northern Netherlandish’.⁴

Similar in type are two carved retable groups preserved in the Museum Catharijneconvent, representing St Jerome and the Holy Family, both also originating from Utrecht.⁵ Contrary to these examples, the Amsterdam Nativity bears no apparent traces of securing elements that might convey its function as part of a piece of furniture, a diptych or retable. Yet when acknowledging the recessed groove at the bottom of the reverse side and the gradual tapering of the working block itself, it seems unlikely the relief was originally carved as an independent piece.⁶ Clearly, only the front side was meant to be seen, with the groove used for sliding the piece into place. If belonging to a retable with multiple representations, it would have appeared alongside one or more accompanying scenes, as is the case with the Annunciation and Nativity groups in the bottom register of the Retable of Zeddam, an example of Antwerp production preserved in the Sint-Oswalduskerk in Zeddam (Guelders).⁷ Like the panels of this altarpiece, the top section of the present relief was probably originally decorated with metselrie (openwork tracery), which rested on the two pillars that still frame the scene.

Bieke van der Mark, 2024