Spanish school; first third of the 16th century.

Spanish school; first third of the XVI century.
"Nativity.
Oil on panel. Cradled.
Presents faults in the frame.
Measurements: 121 x 64,5 cm; 128 x 69 cm (frame).
The work in question is a representation of the Nativity of Christ by a painter of the Spanish school of the first third of the sixteenth century, a period marked by the transition between the late Gothic style and the influences of the Italian and Flemish Renaissance that began to penetrate with force in the Iberian Peninsula. This painting, of devotional character, offers us an intimate and deeply symbolic scene of the birth of Jesus, charged with spirituality and with a marked interest in the transmission of the sacred.
The scene is located inside a manger open to a mountainous background, following a vertical and symmetrical composition. In the lower center is the Child Jesus, naked and lying on a bed of straw, radiating serenity. Next to him are the Virgin Mary, with a sweet and recollected face, and Saint Joseph, with a pensive and devout gesture, both with golden haloes that reinforce their sacred character.
Two typical animals of the Gospel story, the ox and the donkey, contemplate the Child, alluding to the humility of the birth and the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Above them, in the upper plane, a group of musical and singing angels fly in a semicircular arrangement, carrying a phylactery with the inscription "Gloria in Excelsis Deo", a clear allusion to the heavenly announcement of the Savior's birth to the shepherds. Their serene faces and hands in prayerful gesture reinforce the atmosphere of adoration and recollection.
The treatment of the figures still shows the influence of international Gothic, especially in the rounded faces, the rigidity of the folds and the use of gold in the haloes. However, there are clear signs of Renaissance renewal, such as the search for spatial depth, the more naturalistic anatomical modeling of the Child and the attempt to create a unified atmosphere through the background landscape.
The chromatism is sober and warm, with a predominance of ochre, dark reds and blacks, with touches of white in the angels that contrast and elevate the upper area of the composition. The artist, although anonymous, demonstrates a solid craft, typical of the workshops of the Castilian or Aragonese school of the time, where the devotional prevailed over the spectacular.
The Nativity is one of the central themes of Christian art, and its representation responds to both doctrinal and emotional needs. In this context, the images of the Spanish school of the 16th century did not so much seek visual impact as pious contemplation, aligned with the spirituality promoted by orders such as the Franciscans or Dominicans. Art was a vehicle for meditation, and this painting fulfills that function with sobriety and efficiency.
The Spanish school in this period was in full evolution: influenced by the Flemish models brought by the Catholic Monarchs and the first echoes of the Italian Renaissance, it was beginning to consolidate its own artistic identity, characterized by spiritual depth, emphasis on interior devotion and a progressive technical mastery.