The Nativity

Art Historical Context

In the early 16th century, Parmigianino created this delicate etching of the Nativity, capturing the intimate scene of Christ’s birth with remarkable precision. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Drawings and Prints, the small sheet—just 4 11/ by 3 116 inches—demon how printmaking brought sacred to a broader audience during the Renaissance. Etching, a technique that involves drawing through a wax ground on a metal plate before acid bites the lines, allowed Parmigianino to achieve fine, fluid details and subtle tonal effects. This medium’s significance lies in its ability...

About the Artist

Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola) · 1503–1540

Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, known as Parmigianino, was born on January 11, 1503, in Parma, into a family of artists. The eighth child of painter Filippo Mazzola and Donatella Abbati, he lost his father to the plague at age two and was raised by his uncles, Michele and Pier Ilario Mazzola, modestly talented painters who taught him the techniques of the craft. By his late teens, Parmigianino d...