The Adoration of the Shepherds

Artist Lorenzo Leonbruno (Italian, 1489–about 1537)

Date1510–1535

Mediumegg tempera on panel

Dimensions37.2 x 27.2 cm (14 5/8 x 10 11/16 in.)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineTheodore T. and Mary G. Ellis Collection

Terms

wood

Object number1940.32

Label TextAn ox and a donkey watch as Mary holds her newborn son before the humble shepherds who have come to pay their respects and acknowledge the baby as the Son of God. The central, kneeling figure, who is either Mary's husband (St. Joseph) or a visiting shepherd, looks out as if to draw the viewer into the scene. Leonbruno completes the narrative by including two tiny figures in the distant landscape: an angel announcing the birth of Christ to a lone shepherd who is tending his sheep. Leonbruno lived during the Renaissance, a time in which artists began to look closely at the natural world around them. His interest in specific textures is seen in the way in which he renders the fabric of the figures' clothing and the wood of the stable. Also, he places the biblical scene within an Italian landscape, thus painting the world that is familiar to him.ProvenanceTheodore T. Ellis, Worcester, MA

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