The Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “The Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds” now? Victoria and Albert Museum, Medieval & Renaissance, Room 8, The William and Eileen Ruddock Gallery, London. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
RoomMedieval & Renaissance, Room 8, The William and Eileen Ruddock Gallery
Closed· opens tomorrow at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the sculpture
This and the two other plaques in the V&A (Inv.nos: 145-1866, 378-1871) belong to the same ensemble, together with two other reliefs in the Metropolitan Museum in New York (showing the Three Maries at the Sepulchre and the Incredulity of St. Thomas);
They are the same size and are carved in an identical style and display the same border designs.
The size and number of the plaques suggest that they probably once formed a large altar frontal or decorated a pulpit, in an ensemble that probably consisted of nine panels.
Each is made up of several pieces of ivory, and there is evidence that they were once coloured. The expressionless oval faces in three-quarter profile and the rounded forms are features of Romanesque sculpture and manuscript painting in the Cologne area. Unusually the carver used rows of dots to emphasise curved lines.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 144-1866
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
