No fewer than twelve figures--including the Christ child--and eight farmyard animals inhabit Boucher's luminous Nativity. Inspired by the pastorals of the Italian artist Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, this autonomous drawing is executed in a complex and layered mixed-media technique. Boucher first laid out the composition in a black chalk underdrawing and lightly washed the cream paper in red. He then delineated his cast of characters in pen and brown ink with very few revisions, emphasized certain details in the foreground with more insistent pen work, and finally added white chalk highlights to the lantern and the central group. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection"
Watermark: Lion with wheat and staff in circle surmounted by crown and tree; LIBERTE PRO PATRIA EIUSQUE in outer circle, VRYHEYT on base. Seven provinces. (central medallion similar to Churchill 84: 1746).
Falconet, Etienne, 1716-1791, former owner.
Michel-Lévy, Henri, 1844-1914, former owner.
Petin, Hector, former owner.
Petin, Hector, Mme, former owner.
Thaw, Eugene Victor, former owner.
Thaw, Clare, former owner.
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY, "Drawn to Greatness: Master Drawings from the Thaw Collection", 2017. Exh. cat., no. 20, repr.
The Thaw collection of master drawings : acquisitions since 2002. New York : Morgan Library & Museum, 2009, no. 12, repr.
From Leonardo to Pollock: Master drawings from the Morgan Library. New York: Morgan Library, 2006, cat. no. 78, p. 164-165.