Online Collections at UoB - Objects
ID number: BIRBI-51.5 Institution: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts Artist / Maker: ascribed to Beer, Jan de (about 1475 - before 1528) Title / Object name: Joseph and the Suitors (recto), The Nativity (verso) Object type: Painting
Place made: Antwerp Culture: Early Netherlandish Date made: about 1515/20 Materials: Oil on wood Measurements: 137 x 137 cm (unframed) 157.7 x 157.5 x 13.3 cm (framed) Provenance: Sir Richard Frederick; sold February 1874; Cook Collection; purchased by the Barber Institute, 1951 for £1,800.
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This panel is painted on both sides and it formed part of an altarpiece or a screen illustrating the life of the Virgin Mary. She is shown in a nocturnal scene adoring the infant Christ. Two shepherds approach through the door to the right, and Joseph with a lantern enters from the left. A different note is struck by the angels who are grief-stricken by the realisation of Christ’s fate. The infant lies on a stone, symbolising the altar used for the mass, and on a wheat sheaf, representing the communion bread.
Notes: Exhibited: New Gallery, London, 'Masters of the Flemish and British Schools', 1899 (no.13); 'Exposition des Primitifs Flamands et d' Art ancien', Bruges, 1902 (no. 233); Barber Institute, Lady Barber Gallery, 'Truly Bright and Memorable', autumn 2019.
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