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RUSSIAN, CIRCA 1500
Details
THE STORY OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY
RUSSIAN, CIRCA 1500
A detailed, visual narrative of Christ's Nativity and its subsequent happenings; the oversized, reclining figure of the Mother of God standing out among the other, smaller characters; next to her couch the swaddled Christ lying in a coffin-like manger, with an ox and ass above him; to her left, the Three Magi on horses following the guiding star carried by an angel on the top; then, as if they travelled behind the hill, portrayed again to the right presenting their gifts to the Child; a second angel above leaning forward to deliver the joyful news to the shepherd; the middle register defined by a lower hill, showing Joseph conversing with an elderly shepherd and the preparation of the Child's first bath; between the two scenes a bucolic image with a pair of goats fighting; the sequence just described flanked by the Old Testament Prophets Isaiah and Micah displaying their writings that foreshadowed Christ's Birth on unrolled scrolls; the lower right corner showing King Herod enthroned, instructing a Roman soldier, the Massacre of the Innocents in the foreground, St. Elizabeth and her son John hiding in a cave beyond the cliff, and at the lower left side, Joseph, his son and the Mother of God on horseback, holding Christ, entering a walled city, referring to their Flight into Egypt; the complex image finely rendered in the traditional manner on gold ground, the cinnabar colour and numerous golden nimbuses accentuating the composition's agitating structure
12¾ x 10 3/8 in. (32.4 x 26.4 cm)
RUSSIAN, CIRCA 1500
A detailed, visual narrative of Christ's Nativity and its subsequent happenings; the oversized, reclining figure of the Mother of God standing out among the other, smaller characters; next to her couch the swaddled Christ lying in a coffin-like manger, with an ox and ass above him; to her left, the Three Magi on horses following the guiding star carried by an angel on the top; then, as if they travelled behind the hill, portrayed again to the right presenting their gifts to the Child; a second angel above leaning forward to deliver the joyful news to the shepherd; the middle register defined by a lower hill, showing Joseph conversing with an elderly shepherd and the preparation of the Child's first bath; between the two scenes a bucolic image with a pair of goats fighting; the sequence just described flanked by the Old Testament Prophets Isaiah and Micah displaying their writings that foreshadowed Christ's Birth on unrolled scrolls; the lower right corner showing King Herod enthroned, instructing a Roman soldier, the Massacre of the Innocents in the foreground, St. Elizabeth and her son John hiding in a cave beyond the cliff, and at the lower left side, Joseph, his son and the Mother of God on horseback, holding Christ, entering a walled city, referring to their Flight into Egypt; the complex image finely rendered in the traditional manner on gold ground, the cinnabar colour and numerous golden nimbuses accentuating the composition's agitating structure
12¾ x 10 3/8 in. (32.4 x 26.4 cm)
Special notice
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium