Adoration of The Shepherds - in Art

In Art

The scene is very commonly combined with the Adoration of the Magi, which makes for a balanced composition, as the two groups often occupy opposite sides of the image space around the central figures, and fitted with the theological interpretation of the episode, where the two groups, Jewish and gentile, represented the peoples of the world between them. This combination is first found in the 6th century Monza ampullae made in Byzantine Palaestina Prima.

In Renaissance art, drawing on classical stories of Orpheus, the shepherds are sometimes depicted with musical instruments. A charming but atypical miniature in the La Flora Hours in Naples shows the shepherds playing to the Infant Jesus, as a delighted Virgin Mary stands to one side.

Many artists have treated the adoration of the shepherds. Famous examples include:

  • Correggio: Adoration of the Shepherds, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
  • Caravaggio: Adoration of the Shepherds, Museo Regionale, Messina
  • Giorgione, Allendale Nativity, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  • El Greco, Adoration of the Shepherds (El Greco), Museo del Prado, Madrid
  • Le Nain brothers: Adoration of the Shepherds (Le Nain), National Gallery, London
  • Hugo van der Goes: Portinari Triptych, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  • Adoration of the Shepherds (Lorenzo di Credi), also Uffizi
  • Andrea Mantegna, The Adoration of the Shepherds, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
  • Georges de la Tour, Louvre, Paris
  • Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, The Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
  • Nicolas Poussin and Rembrandt, National Gallery, London
  • Martin Schongauer, Berlin
  • Edward Burne-Jones's stained-glass windows in Trinity Church, Boston
  • Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sassetti Chapel, Santa Trinita, Florence
  • Gerard van Honthorst, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne
  • Giotto, in the Cappella degli Scrovegni

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