The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Adoration of the Shepherds

Adoration of the Shepherds

c. 1650
(Italian, 1616–1656)
Framed: 151 x 172 x 7 cm (59 7/16 x 67 11/16 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 126.8 x 148.3 cm (49 15/16 x 58 3/8 in.)

Did You Know?

The artist signed this painting with his monogram “BC” on the rump of the ox.

Description

Cavallino worked in Naples where he was not well known during his lifetime, but was alert to the work of contemporaries whose innovations he transformed with extraordinary delicacy and charm. The adoration of the shepherds is a traditional subject, but here Cavallino shows it in a new light. The focus is on Mary, indicating that she alone is aware of the angels who flutter above with ribbons proclaiming Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Glory to God in the highest). Joseph and the shepherds stolidly regard the child, but the sweetness of Mary's expression simultaneously reveals her love, pride, and humility.
  • Marquis de Villette, Château de Villette, Oise
    -1875
    Jean Baptiste Angiot, Paris (sale: Hotel Drouot, Paris, March 1-2, 1875, cat. no. 41, as Benedetto Castiglione)
    1875-1968
    Private Collection, Buenos Aires
    1968
    [Frederick Mont, New York], sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1968
    1968-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
  • The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 117 archive.org
    Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler. "Bernardo Cavallino: Adoration of the Shepherds." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 56, no. 4 (April 1969): 136-50. Reproduced: P. 138, fig. 4; p. 142, fig. 10; p. 143, fig. 12b, p. 148-149; Mentioned: P. 136-150 www.jstor.org
    Causa, Raffaello. La pittura del Seicento a Napoli dal naturalismo al barocco ; La natura morta a Napoli nel Sei e nel Settecento. [Napoli]: Società editrice storia di Napoli, 1972. 944
    Acquisizioni 1960-1975. [Napoli]: Società editrice napoletana, 1975. 256
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 137 archive.org
    Ebbinge Wubben, J. C., and Benedict Nicolson. Le choix d'un amateur éclairé: oeuvres de la collection Vitale Bloch provenant du Musée Boymans-van Beuningen avec quelques apports de la Fondation Custodia : [exposition] Institut Néerlandais, Paris, 10 octobre-25 novembre 1979. Paris: L'Institut, 1979. 34
    Gregori, Mina. La Fondazione Roberto Longhi a Firenze. Milano: Electa, 1980. 298
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Reproduced; p. 328; Mentioned: p. 329
    Schloder, John E. Baroque Imagery. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1984. 15-17, 34
    Spinosa, Nicola. La Pittura napoletana del '600. Milano: Longanesi, 1984. 157
    Lurie, Ann Tzeutschler, Grace G Fowler, Ann Percy. Bernardo Cavallino of Naples, 1616-1656. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1984. cat. no. 79, repr. [Italian edition, cat. no. 45, repr.]
    Herzog Anton-Ulrich-Museum Braunschweig. Europäische Malerei des Barock: aus dem Nationalmuseum in Warschau. Braunschweig: Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, 1988. 50, 51 n.12
    La Pittura in Italia: Il Seicento. Milano: Electa, 1988. 486, 517 n.32
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1991. 93
    Chong, Alan. European & American Painting in the Cleveland Museum of Art: A Summary Catalogue. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1993. 32
  • Bernardo Cavallino of Naples, 1616-1656. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 14-December 30, 1984); Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (January 26-March 24, 1985); Museo Pignatelli Cortes, Napoli, Italy (April 24-June 26, 1985).
    Painting in Naples from Caravaggio to Giordano. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (October 2-December 12, 1982).
    When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982).
    Year in Review: 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969).
  • {{cite web|title=Adoration of the Shepherds|url=false|author=Bernardo Cavallino|year=c. 1650|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.100