Art UK has updated its cookies policy. By using this website you are agreeing to the use of cookies. To find out more read our updated Use of Cookies policy and our updated Privacy policy.

The Adoration of the Shepherds

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

The Adoration of the Shepherds is a late altarpiece by Guido Reni. Nearly five metres high without its frame, it is one of the largest paintings in the National Gallery’s collection.

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.

The National Gallery, London

London

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

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue