The life of Christ
- Gallery: Room 90
- Maker: Francesco de Nanto
- Date: 1520-1530 (circa)
- Object type: print
- Materials: paper
- Museum number: 1881,0611.10
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
This is "The Life of Christ," a woodcut print created around 1520–1530. The image before you depicts the Circumcision of Christ, a sacred and traditional biblical scene often used in religious art of the Renaissance.
This print was made by Francesco de Nanto after designs by Amico Aspertini, an Italian artist known for his work during a vibrant period of printmaking in Italy. The technique used is woodcut, a method in which images are carved into wooden blocks and then printed onto paper.
While opinions vary about whether this work was part of a series of fifteen woodcuts illustrating the Life of Christ, it reflects the artistic collaborations of the time—sometimes uniting painters like Aspertini with skilled printmakers like De Nanto.
Other impressions of this subject are found in major collections in Florence and Rome. The print offers a glimpse into how Renaissance artists adapted and shared religious imagery through prints, making holy scenes more widely accessible and enduring.
See it in person
The life of Christ is on display in Room 90 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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