-
Social Sharing
The Adoration of the Shepherds
Artwork Viewer
In the biblical narrative of Jesus Christ’s life, the first visitors to celebrate his birth in a manger in Bethlehem were poor shepherds whose humility granted them an exalted proximity to God. Joachim Wtewael set the scene amid ruins, which not only symbolize the decline of a pagan era but also reflect the inspiration the artist drew from ancient Roman architecture he encountered on a four-year journey through Italy and France. Painted after his return to his native Utrecht, this Adoration incorporates artistic ideas Wtewael had found in Italian art, from the exaggerated poses of the figures to the artificially bright color palette. The inventive mixture of a decorative Italian style and a typical Northern attention to domestic details, such as the dog or the Virgin Mary’s earthenware pot, made this a coveted composition that Wtewael painted on multiple occasions.
- Artist
- Joachim Antonisz Wtewael
- Title
- The Adoration of the Shepherds
- Date
- ca. 1598-1599
- Object Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 34 1/8 x 44 1/8 in. (86.7 x 112.1 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase, European Art Trust Fund, the Roscoe and Margaret Oakes Income Fund, and by exchange from the Mildred Anna Williams Collection, André J. Kahn-Wolf, Julia Wise, Donald McLeod Lewis in memory of Mabelle McLeod Lewis, Dr. T. Edward and Tullah Hanley, Bradford, Pennsylvania; Herbert Fleishhacker, Sydney Menzie Wynn and the Ernest M.P. Wayne Estate, Forrest Engelhart and Julia May Babcock
- Accession Number
- 1999.130