Adoration of the Shepherds

c. 1510

Hans Leonhard Schäufelein

(German)

Culture

Germany

Medium

oil on wood

Measurements

Framed: 86 x 85.5 x 4 cm (33 7/8 x 33 11/16 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 58 x 56.6 cm (22 13/16 x 22 5/16 in.)

Credit Line

Holden Collection 1916.807

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Location

111 German and Austrian Gothic

Description

The artist has set Christ's birth in a ruined stable, witnessed by shepherds and angels. The candle Joseph holds symbolizes the supremacy of Christ's divine radiance over earthly light. Beyond the overgrown arch of the dilapidated structure an angel announces Christ's birth to shepherds in the field. Schäufelein based his picture on the Paumgartner Nativity, a painting (now preserved in Munich) by his teacher, Albrecht Dürer. Schäufelein was born in Nuremberg, probably studied under Wohlgemut, and then became the assistant of Dürer, whose style he imitated.