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Notes
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In a stable in Bethlehem, a group of shepherds gather around the newborn Christ. Reni has staged a night-time scene, using the darkness to full effect by surrounding the Christ Child with an otherworldly glow that illuminates the faces of those around him; they gaze upon his manger with awe and devotion. Celestial light seems to spill from the heavens through a gap in the clouds, and a group of joyful putti carry a scroll that reads: GLORIA IN ECCELSIS DEO (‘Glory to God in the highest’).
This work was completed in Reni’s final years and was owned by Prince Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein (1611–1684), who may have commissioned it or acquired it from Reni’s studio following the dispersal of its contents after the artist’s death.
Title
The Adoration of the Shepherds
Date
about 1640
Medium
Oil on canvas
Measurements
H 480 x W 321 cm
Accession number
NG6270
Acquisition method
Bought, 1957
Work type
Painting