Internet Shakespeare Editions

Toolbox

A birth celebrated

The Birth of the Virgin (detail). Dürer. Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Gossips (literally godmothers, "god-sib[ling]s") gather for the birth and a celebration.

This detail of a print by the great German Renaissance artist, Albrecht Dürer, shows the birth and christening of Christ. Dürer has set the scene as if in contemporary Europe, showing details of the life of those of his time in the foreground, while the Christian drama takes place behind.