Adoration of the Shepherds (Le Nain)
The Adoration of the Shepherds by the
Description
The painting is in oil on canvas and in good condition, with minor losses; it measures 109.2 cm × 138.7 cm (43.0 in × 54.6 in). The
Dates in the 1630s have been suggested, and also that the painting is by Mathieu, or Louis.
Provenance
As with most Le Nain paintings, the original commissioner is not known, nor whether it was intended for a church or other religious institution, or a domestic setting.[10] It first appears in England in the 1770s. Possibly it was the painting of the subject sold at Christie's 7 February 1771, as by Le Nain (lot 21), realizing the good price of £42, and/or that sold on 20 March 1773, again at Christie's, this time for only £14 4s 6d (lot 85, as "Le Naine"). It was certainly at Blenheim Palace by 1777, now attributed to Luca Giordano, in the collection of George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough. It remained in the Marlborough collection until the epic sales in the 1880s of the 8th Duke, when it was once again sold at Christie's on 7 August 1886 (lot 652, £52 10s), bought by a dealer. It was later bought by Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk and is recorded as hanging in the "Prince's Bedroom" at Arundel Castle in 1902, still as a Giordano. In 1962 it was sold by the 16th Duke to the National Gallery, as a Le Nain. It is catalogued as NG 6331, and hangs in Room 18.[11]
See also
- Adoration of the Shepherds (Poussin), another French painting, 1633-34 by Nicolas Poussin, also in the National Gallery
Notes
- ^ Wine, 194, 208; for an older and opposing view, see Blunt, 155–156, who describes distinct styles and types of work for each brother.
- ^ Wine, 194
- ^ Wine, 206–207
- ^ Levey, 211
- ^ National Gallery page
- ^ Wine, 208–209 for date, and recording rather than endorsing the attribution to Mathieu; Levey, 211 attributes it to Louis.
- ^ Wine, 208–210
- ^ Wine, 210
- ^ Louvre; Blunt, 155, has the old attribution.
- ^ Wine, 194; Blunt, 157
- New Bond Street, the dealer who bought the work in 1886, acted for the Duke of Norfolk & may have done so here, or sold it to him later (n. 4).
References
- Blunt, Anthony, Art and Architecture in France, 1500–1700, 2nd edn 1957, Penguin
- ISBN 0-947645-34-9
- Wine, Humphrey, National Gallery Catalogues (new series): The Seventeenth Century French Paintings, 2001, National Gallery Publications Ltd, ISBN 1-85709-283-X
External links
- National Gallery page, with powerful roving zoom