Adoration of the Shepherds (Mantegna)
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The Adoration of the Shepherds | |
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Artist | Andrea Mantegna |
Year | 1450–1451 |
Medium | Tempera on canvas |
Dimensions | 37.8 cm × 53.3 cm (14.9 in × 21.0 in) |
Location | Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
Website | The Met |
The Adoration of the Shepherds is a painting by the northern Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna, dated to c. 1450-1451.
History
This small painting is generally attributed to Mantegna's youth. It was likely commissioned by Borso d'Este during the artist's stay in Ferrara in 1450–1451.
The work, originally on panel, was subsequently moved to canvas at an unknown date, losing a small section on the far right. It is perhaps mentioned in a 1586 inventory of
Description
The scene is set in an open space, with the Madonna in the middle, adoring the Child while kneeling on a stony area within a crumbling wall, while to her right St. Joseph is sleeping, and to her left two shepherds pray. St. Joseph's sleep may hint at his role as mere guardian of the Virgin and the Child. The blasted tree on which he leans has born fruit on a single branch; the usual interpretation of this traditional feature is of the mystic renewal of Nature under the new dispensation. Jesus' three-quarters depiction is typical of Mantegna's production. Twelve cherubs, borne on a cloud, surround the Virgin and cradle the Child.
Behind the Virgin, to the left, are depicted boards of the ruinous stable in which Jesus was born, according to tradition. On the right is a wide landscape, framed by two steep mountains. Two other shepherds are represented in the right background, and a third on the road next to the river, each one met by an angel (bearing the news). A big tree somewhat resembling the Calvary Cross presages Jesus' Passion. There is also an ox, a traditional mute witness of the Nativity. Faint traces of the traditional ass may be glimpsed in the darkness within the stable doorway. The prominent gourd hanging on the wattle fence is a Christian symbol representing the Resurrection and also referring to pilgrimage.[2]
Several flaws in the perspective have induced scholars to assign this work to a date near that of the first frescoes executed by Mantegna in the
References
Further reading
- La Grande Storia dell'Arte - Il Quattrocento, Il Sole 24 Ore, 2005
- Kleiner, Frank S. Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 13th Edition, 2008
- Manca, Joseph. Andrea Mantegna and the Italian Renaissance, 2006