Title: The Nativity

Artist: Gentile da Fabriano

The Nativity About 1420–22 Gentile da Fabriano Italian, about 1370–1427 Tempera and gold leaf on panel The representation of two different Christian subjects in this painting is unusual. The birth of Christ, with the Annunciation to the Shepherds in the left background, is combined with the Virgin Mary, portrayed here as the Madonna of Humility—a type of devotional image in which she sits on the bare earth and adores the Christ Child. The naturalism of the distant, nighttime scene; the flowers in the foreground; and the richly decorated edge of Mary’s garment are typical of the International Gothic style.