Carved in relief and originally polychromed. The scene is enclosed in an integrally carved frame with architectural details. The relief’s background is pierced in some areas. The reverse of the working block tapers off towards the left, with a recessed groove visible at the bottom.

The figures’ noses are damaged. Parts of Joseph’s fingers and sections of the ox’s horns are missing, as are the donkey’s ears. The chest of the shepherd on the left has been restored with wood and wax. Openwork tracery was probably originally applied at the level of the vault. The overall sculpture displays signs of abrasion, possibly a consequence of removing the polychromy with a caustic.

…; acquired by the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap, Amsterdam, 1860; on loan to the museum, since 1885; on loan to the Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, inv. no. RMCC b47, since 1981

Object number: BK-KOG-647

Credit line: On loan from the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap

This Nativity quite faithfully reflects the vision of St Bridget of Sweden (d. 1373), as told in her Revelationes (Revelations).¹¹For the influence of St Bridget’s Revelations in art, see L.C.B.M. van Liebergen, Birgitta van Zweden, 1303-1373: 600 jaar kunst en cultuur van haar kloosterorde, exh. cat. Uden (Museum voor Religieuze Kunst) 1986, pp. 31-41. 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.²²M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, p. 136. For a similar altar-like crib, compare to a Northern Netherlandish Adoration of the Shepherds from c. 1550 in the Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, inv. no. BMH bh211, see M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, pp. 381-82.

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.³³Utrecht, Museum Catharijneconvent, inv. nos. ABM bh258 and ABM bh275, see M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, pp. 210-11, 211-13 and M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht 1430-1530/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, nos. 44 and 43 respectively. 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’.⁴⁴J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, p. 99, adopted by Van Vlierden in M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, p. 136.

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.⁵⁵Utrecht, Museum Catharijneconvent, inv. nos. ABM bh331 and BMH bh1418, see M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, pp. 208-09, 231-32 and M. Leeflang et al., Middeleeuwse beelden uit Utrecht 1430-1530/Mittelalterliche Bildwerke aus Utrecht, exh. cat. Utrecht (Museum Catharijneconvent)/Aachen (Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum) 2012-13, nos. 12, 64. 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.⁶⁶This is contrary to what previous authors have stated, see Van Oosterwijk in M. Parez et al., Uit het goede hout gesneden: Religieuze houtsculptuur uit het Museum Catharijneconvent Utrecht in dialoog met de Gruuthusecollectie, exh. cat. Bruges (Gruuthuse Museum) 2004, p. 32 and M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, p. 136. 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).⁷⁷For this retable, see H. Mees, Het retabel van Zeddam: Antwerpse houtsnijkunst uit de Late Middeleeuwen, Zutphen 1994. 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

J. Leeuwenberg with the assistance of W. Halsema-Kubes, Beeldhouwkunst in het Rijksmuseum, coll. cat. Amsterdam 1973, no. 82, with earlier literature; Jaarverslag Rijksmuseum Catharijneconvent 1981, p. 301; M. Parez et al., Uit het goede hout gesneden: Religieuze houtsculptuur uit het Museum Catharijneconvent Utrecht in dialoog met de Gruuthusecollectie, exh. cat. Bruges (Gruuthusemuseum) 2004, pp. 32-33; M. van Vlierden et al., Hout- en steensculptuur van Museum Catharijneconvent, ca. 1200-1600, coll. cat. Utrecht 2004, pp. 135-36

B. van der Mark, 2024, 'anonymous, The Nativity, Northern Netherlands, c. 1490 - c. 1500', in F. Scholten and B. van der Mark (eds.), European Sculpture in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/200115853