Lot 1003 Dα

This panel depicts the adoring Virgin before a ruined stone stable shown in perspective. The ox and ass watch over the Christ Child, who lies in a basket to the left of the work. Joseph is shown on the right holding a candle and sitting by a small fire which he has lit under a pitcher. Two shepherds can be seen looking in on the scene over the back wall of the stable, and behind them the piece opens up onto a landscape view showing Jerusalem in the distance. The scene is closed to the upper edge by a decorative foliate arch.

At some point in its history, the painting has been separated from the original panel and mounted onto another. It probably originally belonged to an altarpiece depicting the life of the Virgin. The composition, figures and drapery all show parallels to the work of the contemporary Upper Rhenish woodcut artists Martin Schongauer and Master E.S. The piece is difficult to localise, but we assume that it was made circa 1480 in Southern Germany.