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.

Order a print

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.

This extraordinary painting is a unique depiction of the Adoration of the Shepherds. The Virgin Mary, Joseph and two shepherds cluster round the infant Christ; the ox and the donkey peer out of the darkness behind them. They are not, however, in a stable in Bethlehem, but gathered in front of a verdant grotto. Two trumpeting angels stand on the rocky outcrops while a host of angels overhead hold the instruments of the Passion (Christ’s torture and crucifixion). The scene is flanked by nine choirs of angels on clouds, who play drums, tambourines, portable organs, lyres and pipes.

This painting was probably made at the very end of the fifteenth century, a date which might help explain its meaning. It was commonly believed that the year 1500 – one and a half thousand years after the birth of Christ – would be marked by some kind of divine intervention in the world, an idea which might have been behind this very unusual painting.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Adoration of the Shepherds with Angels

Date

about 1499

Medium

Oil on wood

Measurements

H 52.4 x W 37.5 cm

Accession number

NG3105

Acquisition method

Layard Bequest, 1916

Work type

Painting

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

Artist or maker

Lorenzo Costa

c.1459/1460–1535

View profile

Portrait of Battista Fiera The National Gallery, London
The Virgin and Child Enthroned between a Soldier Saint, and Saint John the Baptist (La Pala Strozzi) The National Gallery, London
Saint Peter The National Gallery, London
The Story of Moses (The Israelites gathering Manna) The National Gallery, London
Saint John the Baptist The National Gallery, London
The Story of Moses (The Dance of Miriam) The National Gallery, London
Saint John the Evangelist The National Gallery, London
6 more