Art The Master of the Hlohovec Nativity: The Hlohovec Nativity C. 1485-1490; lime, high relief; 206 cm (h) x 118 cm (w), original polychrome with gilt. Slovak National Gallery

Catalogue Number: Graphic lay-out:  Stamp Engraving:  Date of Issue:  Printing:  Print Technology:  Print Run:	82 Martin Činovský Miloš Ondráček November 30, 1995 Postal Stationery Printing House, Prague, Czech Republic Rotary-recess printing from flat plates 374,800
FDC Motif:	Detail of Madonna from relief "Narodenie" from Hlohovec
FDC Engraving:	Miloš Ondráček
Cancellation Design:	Martin Činovský
Printing:	Postal Stationery Printing House, Prague, Czech Republic
Print Technology:	Recess printing from flat plates
FDC Print Run:	10,000
In style the Hlohovec Nativity relief displays the sculptural influence of the Upper Rhine. It is a treatment of the Nativity theme known as the Adoration of the Virgin, in which the Virgin Mary kneels with clasped hands before the infant. The child rests on drapery held by angels. The composition reflects the medieval hierarchy of the figures depicted. As art it is notable for its elegant and refined form and deeply lyrical rendering, and is in accomplishment the equal of any late-Gothic sculpture produced in Europe in the last third of the 15th century. The relief was located in an originally Gothic chapel in the western part of Hlohovec castle, before being transferred to the centre of the main Baroque altar from the 18th century. The Master of the Hlohovec Nativity probably worked in Bratislava.

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