SCHOOL OF VALENCIA CIRCA 1500, FOLLOWER OF RODRIGO DE OSONA NATIVITY Reinforced panel Damage, missing parts and dents Cracks in the panel held in place on the reverse by nine dovetails School of Valence c. 1500, foll. of Rodrigo de Osona, Natvity, reinforced panel, accidents, liftings and lacks, cracks on the back of the panel maintained by nine dovetails. Accidents, lacks and lifts 89 x 58 CM - 35 x 22,8 IN Sheltered under an imposing loggia in the Italian Renaissance style, whose arcades open on three sides onto a bright green landscape, the Virgin and Saint Joseph kneel, praying before the Child lying on the ground. Behind this group appear two shepherds, one of whom shows the Child to his companion, while the donkey and the ox watch the scene in the archway on the left. The presence of Joseph holding a lighted candle is an allusion to the visions of Saint Brigid of Sweden, according to which the divine light emanating from the Child tried to extinguish the candle held by Saint Joseph. Apart from the Virgin and Child, who are depicted with elegance and delicacy, the other figures have coarser, more realistic features, in keeping with their condition, reflecting the predominant Nordic influences in Valencian workshops at the end of the 15th century, which can also be seen in the treatment of the heavy draperies with their broken folds. Our panel was probably executed in the circle of the painter Rodrigo de Osona the Elder, who was active in Valencia between 1464 and probably until 1518, and who was attracted early on by the novelties of the Italian Renaissance style combined with the realism of Flemish art, so present in the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 15th century. A comparison with the Adoration of the Child by Rodrigo and his son Francisco (Madrid, Prado Museum, cf. X. Company, La Pintura dels Osona, Lerida 1991, fig. 39) supports the attribution of our panel to an anonymous follower of this painter, as proposed here. Without being able to justify it at present, we might suggest that the motif of the crown accompanied by the letter M, stamped on the Virgin's cloak, is a mark of the panel's provenance from the convent of the Poor Clares of Santa Clara in Valencia. It should be remembered that this institution was transferred from Gandia to Valencia in 1458 by Queen Maria (1401-1458), wife of Alfonso V, King of Aragon and Valencia.