The Birth of the Virgin

Wolf Traut painted this Birth of the Virgin around 1513, a narrative subject from the apocryphal life of Mary that was popular in German altarpiece cycles. Traut's Nuremberg workshop produced such devotional works combining the city's precise technique with engaging narrative detail. The tempera-on-panel medium required a carefully gessoed surface and was painted in fine, precise layers, yielding a luminous, jewel-like surface of great durability.

The panel shows Traut's Nuremberg workshop technique with detailed domestic interior, careful figure arrangement, and the clear narrative presentation characteristic of Franconian altarpiece painting.