This panel is part of the altarpiece or seasonal altar of the Guisando Nativity (P00683–P00690). This is a structure frequently found in numerous Spanish monastic cloisters. It comes precisely from the Hieronymite monastery of Guisando (Ávila), as cited by Ponz in 1773. In the cloister, the altarpiece was set into a wall and formed a sort of box. The doors of the altarpiece depict The Visitation with Saint Jerome in Penitence on its exterior side. On the other hand, they also depict The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, which was sawn off and dismembered from the door, with The Agony in the Garden on the other side. The ensemble was completed with four prophets (David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Habakkuk). They are located on the sides of the altarpiece and act as the minor sides of the altarpiece’s parallelepiped. Most likely, and following the formula of this type of altarpiece, a sculptural or pictorial image would round off the piece, such as that of God the Father. With the ecclesiastical confiscation, the panels of the altarpiece were dismantled and dispersed. Furthermore, its painter Juan Correa de Vivar and the provenance of the ensemble were forgotten. It was thought to be from the monastery of Santa María de Valdeiglesias (Pelayos de la Presa, Madrid), where Correa worked between 1545 and 1550. Based on Ponz’s description, the reconstruction of the Altarpiece of the Nativity has been proposed by the researcher Isabel Mateo. She dates it to between 1533–35 due to its stylistic proximity to Juan de Borgoña’s painting. The latter is a key figure in the emergence of Renaissance forms in Castile via Toledo. The combined use of the new Italian Quattrocento styles and Borgoña’s Nordic heritage made it fit right into an area with a traditional Gothic substratum, now covered by the suggestive Tuscan contributions of the aforementioned Borgoña. The Guisando Nativity still shows all the postulates learned from the Nordic master, who was still present on the Toledo scene (Borgoña died in 1536). During this time, Correa maintained a marked sense of drawing, linked to the local use of colour. These were somewhat harsh at that time, and he progressively softened and brightened them. He developed an elementary and notably geometrical approach to composition, using classical architectures but not fully understanding the one-point perspective used. This Nativity, in the context of other earlier commissions – for example, Griñon, Mora or Guadalupe – demonstrates the maturing process at stake in the artist’s early works during which time he established his correct artistic work in the footsteps of Juan de Borgoña without any other yet-perceptible contributions.

Museo Nacional del Prado, El Greco y la pintura española del Renacimiento: guía, Madrid, Museo del Prado, Aldeasa, 2001