Andalusian school of the second half of the 17th century.
"The Adoration of the Shepherds".
Oil on canvas. Re-coloured.
With repainting and restorations.
Measurements: 137 x 151 cm; 158 x 171 cm (frame).
The painter of this canvas is interested in approaching the theme of the adoration in a naturalistic way, emphasising the humble environment that welcomes the birth of the Child Jesus in its bosom. It is a painting indirectly influenced by the soft, delicate style of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. The shepherds, devoid of any eloquent or ornate gestures, kneel or bow silently around the infant, whose small body rests on a bed of straw. The Virgin wraps the child in white cloths, and Saint Joseph, at her side, holds the lily wand, a characteristic attribute of his iconography. Jesus thus occupies the centre of the composition, and the contrasting light helps to arrange the figures and direct the viewer's gaze to each corner of the crib. In this canvas we see a theme that has been repeated many times throughout the history of art, and which experienced a notable boom during the Andalusian Baroque period. The humanity that pervades the scene made the faithful identify with it, an intention that would characterise Spanish religious art from the Counter-Reformation onwards.