The Nativity

Puccio di Simone, a Florentine painter active in the mid-fourteenth century and closely associated with Bernardo Daddi's workshop, depicted the Nativity with the tender narrative approach characteristic of the Giottesque tradition. The Nativity was among the most beloved subjects of Gothic devotional art, appearing on altarpiece predella panels and in fresco cycles throughout Italy. Puccio's work represents the productive middle tier of Florentine Gothic painting — skilled craftsmen who maintained workshop standards while supplying the enormous demand for altarpiece panels.

Painted in egg tempera on panel with gold ground, the intimate composition arranges the Nativity scene with the stable, manger, and attendant figures in a compact narrative format. The warm color palette and gentle figural modeling reflect the influence of Bernardo Daddi's softened Giottesque manner.