The Nativity
painter
Sandro Botticelli
(Florence, 1444 or 1445 - 1510, Florence)
Dateabout 1482-1485
Place MadeFlorence, Tuscany, Italy, Europe
MediumTempera and oil on panel
Dimensions76 cm (29 15/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP27e1
eMuseum ID723184
EmbARK ObjectID10982
TMS Source ID240
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIsabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.
BibliographyNotesCatalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 23. (as Filippino Lippi or Botticelli?)
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), pp. 69-71. (as influenced by Botticelli, possibly Sebasiano Mainardi, about 1494)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 233. (as two followers of Botticelli)
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 58. (as school of Botticelli)
Rollin Hadley. “Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 7, no. 27 (1 Mar. 1964), p. 2.
Christian von Holst. "Tondo for a Workshop of 1490." Fenway Court (Feb. 1969), pp. 37-48, nos. 1, 6. (as workshop of Botticelli, including Michelangelo, about 1490)
Burton B. Fredericksen and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1972), p. 33. (as studio of Botticelli)
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 41-43. (as studio of Botticelli ?)
Ronald Lightbown: Botticelli: Complete Catalogue, Vol. II (Berkeley, 1978), pp. 135-36, no. C37. (as Botticelli and workshop)
Laurence Kanter. "Sandro Botticelli, The Nativity" in Hilliard Goldfarb et al. Italian Paintings and Drawings Before 1800 in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Unpublished manuscript. (Boston, 1996-2000). (as Botticelli, about 1482-1485)
Hilliard Goldfarb et al. Botticelli’s Witness: Changing Style in a Changing Florence. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1997), pp. 38-40. (as Botticelli, about 1482-1485)
Alessandro Cecchi. Botticelli (Milan, 2005), p. 293. (as Botticelli and workshop)
Oliver Tostmann. "Bernard Berenson and America's Discovery of Sandro Botticelli" in Mark Evans et al. Botticelli Reimagined. Exh. cat. (London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 2016), pp. 108, 337.
Cristina Uguccioni. "Così l'arte ha raccontato san Giuseppe." Vatican Insider (13 Mar. 2018). (as Botticelli)
Jeremy Howard. "Selling Botticelli to America: Colnaghi, Bernard Berenson and the Sale of the Madonna of the Eucharist to Isabella Stewart Gardner." Colnaghi Studies 4 (March 2019), p. 161.
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), pp. 69-71. (as influenced by Botticelli, possibly Sebasiano Mainardi, about 1494)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 233. (as two followers of Botticelli)
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 58. (as school of Botticelli)
Rollin Hadley. “Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 7, no. 27 (1 Mar. 1964), p. 2.
Christian von Holst. "Tondo for a Workshop of 1490." Fenway Court (Feb. 1969), pp. 37-48, nos. 1, 6. (as workshop of Botticelli, including Michelangelo, about 1490)
Burton B. Fredericksen and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1972), p. 33. (as studio of Botticelli)
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 41-43. (as studio of Botticelli ?)
Ronald Lightbown: Botticelli: Complete Catalogue, Vol. II (Berkeley, 1978), pp. 135-36, no. C37. (as Botticelli and workshop)
Laurence Kanter. "Sandro Botticelli, The Nativity" in Hilliard Goldfarb et al. Italian Paintings and Drawings Before 1800 in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Unpublished manuscript. (Boston, 1996-2000). (as Botticelli, about 1482-1485)
Hilliard Goldfarb et al. Botticelli’s Witness: Changing Style in a Changing Florence. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1997), pp. 38-40. (as Botticelli, about 1482-1485)
Alessandro Cecchi. Botticelli (Milan, 2005), p. 293. (as Botticelli and workshop)
Oliver Tostmann. "Bernard Berenson and America's Discovery of Sandro Botticelli" in Mark Evans et al. Botticelli Reimagined. Exh. cat. (London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 2016), pp. 108, 337.
Cristina Uguccioni. "Così l'arte ha raccontato san Giuseppe." Vatican Insider (13 Mar. 2018). (as Botticelli)
Jeremy Howard. "Selling Botticelli to America: Colnaghi, Bernard Berenson and the Sale of the Madonna of the Eucharist to Isabella Stewart Gardner." Colnaghi Studies 4 (March 2019), p. 161.
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the collection of the Duke of Brindisi in the Palazzo Antinori, Florence in May 1900 for about $40,000 through Richard Norton (1872–1918), art historian and archaelogist.
Object/Provenance
