The iconography of Dürer’s engraving is somewhat unorthodox. Mary kneels in devout reverence before the newborn child while Joseph fills a jug from the well bucket. A single observer, a shepherd or stable hand, kneels in prayer in the company of the ox and the ass. The Nativity scene itself is dominated by its architectural setting, a rustic dwelling built within decaying architectural remains.

J. Carder

cf. H.S. Hüsgen, Raisonierendes Verzeichnis aller Kupfer- und Eisenstiche von Albrecht Dürer (Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1778), no. 3;
cf. Adam von Bartsch, Le Peintre-Graveur (Vienna, 1808), no. 2;
cf. Joseph Heller, Das Leben und die Werke Albrecht Dürers (Bamberg, 1827), no. 127;
cf. R. Von Retberg, Dürers Kupferstiche und Holzschnitte, ein Kritisches Verzeichnis (Munich, 1871), no. 54;
cf. Moriz Thausing, Dürer, Geschichte seines Lebens und seiner Kunst (Leipzig, revised edition 1884), vol. 2, p. 342;
cf. S.R. Koehler, Catalogue of the Exhibition of Albrecht Dürer's Engravings, Etchings and Dry-Points, and Most of the Woodcuts Executed from his Designs (Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1888), no. 37;
cf. S.R. Koehler, A Chronological Catalogue of the Engravings, Dry-Points and Etchings of Albrecht Dürer, as Exhibited at the Grolier Club, New York (New York, 1897), no. 35;
cf. Heirich Wölfflin, Die Kunst Albrecht Dürers (Munich, 1905), p. 147;
cf. Campbell Dodgson, Albrecht Dürer, Numbered Catalogue of Engravings, Dry-Points and Etchings with Technical Details (London, 1926), no. 38;
cf. Eduard Flechsig, Albrecht Dürer, sein Leben und sine künstlerische Entwicklung (Berlin, 1928), vol. 1, p. 449;
cf. Hans Tietze and E. Tietze-Conrat, Kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke Albrecht Dürers (Augsburg, 1928), vol. 1, no. 250;
cf. Joseph Meder, Dürer Katalog, ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, denen Zustände, Ausgeben und Wasserzeichen (Gilhofer & Rauschburg: Vienna, 1932) p. 70, no. 2;
cf. Erwin Panofsky, Albrecht Dürer (Princeton, 1943), vol. 1, p. 84, no. 109;
cf. Friedrich Winckler, Albrecht Dürer, Leben und Werk (Berlin, 1957), p. 150;
cf. F.W.H. Hollstein, German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts (Amsterdam, 1962), vol. 7, no. 2;
cf. Walter L. Strauss, ed., The Itaglio Prints of Albrecht Dürer, Engravings, Etchings and Dry-Points (Kennedy Galleries and Abaris Books, New York), p. 126, no. 41

Library of Congress, Washington, DC, during the Convention of the Federation of Art, 5/1939.

"Seldom Seen," Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., April 21, 2014.

Purchased from the dealer H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, NY, by Anna Barnes Bliss, 1/1910;

Collection of Anna Barnes Bliss, 1910-1935;

By descent to Mildred Barnes and Robert Woods Bliss, Washington, DC, 1935 - 1969;

Bequest of Mildred Barnes Bliss, January 17, 1969;

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, House Collection, Washington, DC.