Adoration of the Shepherds
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The Adoration of the Shepherds is an episode in the story of Jesus's nativity in which shepherds are near witnesses to his birth in Bethlehem, arriving soon after he is actually born. It is recounted, or at least implied, in the Gospel of Luke and follows on from the annunciation to the shepherds, in which the shepherds are summoned by an angel to the scene of the birth. Like the episode preceding it, the adoration is a common subject in art, where it is often combined with the Adoration of the Magi. In such cases it is typically just referred to by the latter title.
Biblical narrative
The Adoration of the Shepherds is an episode in the nativity narrative of the Gospel of Luke. Shepherds are watching their flocks by night, apparently near Bethlehem, when an angel appears to announce the good news that "today in the City of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord".[1] The angelic promise is accompanied by a sign: they will find the saviour in the form of "a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger".[2] "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host" (the Greek word used here indicates a military formation, an army) appeared and joined the angel, singing "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace among those of good will".[3]
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
The annunciation to the shepherds, which precedes the adoration, forms a distinct subject in Christian art and is sometimes included in a nativity scene as a peripheral feature (even though it occurs before the adoration itself), as in the 1485 scene by Domenico Ghirlandaio, where it can be seen in the upper left corner. Ghirlandaio also shows a procession of Magi about to arrive with their gifts.
Biblical commentary
Roger Baxter reflects on verse 15 ("Let us go to Bethlehem..."), writing, "Observe the prompt obedience of the shepherds, and learn thence to obey with promptitude the divine inspirations." For they came with haste. No one can see Christ slothfully," says St. Ambrose.[4]
The
In art
The scene is very commonly combined with the
The depiction of the adoration of the shepherds as a theme distinct from that of the Magi began to appear in the
Many artists have depicted the subject. Famous examples include:
- Caravaggio, Adoration of the Shepherds, Museo Regionale, Messina
- Domenichino, Adoration of the Shepherds, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
- Giorgione, Allendale Nativity, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- Adoration of the Shepherds, Museo del Prado, Madrid
- Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
- Lorenzo di Credi, Adoration of the Shepherds, also Uffizi
- Andrea Mantegna, Adoration of the Shepherds, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- Trinity Church, Boston
- Giotto, in the Scrovegni Chapel, Padua
- Georges de La Tour, Louvre, Paris
- Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
- Nicolas Poussin and Rembrandt, National Gallery, London
- Guido Reni, Adoration of the Shepherds, Certosa di San Martino, Naples
- Martin Schongauer, Berlin
- Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sassetti Chapel, Santa Trinita, Florence
- Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne
Christmas carols
Several well-known Christmas carols mention the Adoration of the Shepherds. Some of these do so along the lines of urging the listener to come to Bethlehem such as the "Shepherd's Pipe Carol". The modern "Calypso Carol" has the lines "Shepherds swiftly from your stupor rise / to see the Saviour of the world," and the chorus "O now carry me to Bethlehem." "Angels We Have Heard on High" says, "Come to Bethlehem and see / Him Whose birth the angels sing."
"O Come, All Ye Faithful" ("Adeste Fideles" in the Latin version) has a verse which runs:
See how the shepherds,
Summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither
Bend our joyful footsteps.
Other carols which mention the Adoration of the Shepherds include "
Hasten then, hasten to Bethlehem's stall,
There to see heaven descend to us all.
With holy feeling, there humbly kneeling,
We will adore Him, bow down before Him,
Worship the King.[9]
Gallery
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Adoration of the Magi in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens
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Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308–1311
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Andrea Mantegna, 1451–1453
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Correggio, 1529
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Bramantino between 1500 and 1535
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Jacopo Bassano, 1580
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Nicolaes Maes, 1660–1590
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Gerard van Honthorst, 1622
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Matthias Stom, between 1625 and 1650
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French Limoges enamel plaque, mid-16th century
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Guido Reni, 1630–1642
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Jacob Jordaens, 1657
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Polidoro da Caravaggio, 16th century
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El Greco, 1614
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Ukrainian religious icon, late 17th century
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James Tissot, 1886–1894
See also
References
- ^ Edwards 2015, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Edwards 2015, p. 77.
- ^ Edwards 2015, p. 78.
- ^ Baxter, Roger (1823). . Meditations For Every Day In The Year. New York: Benziger Brothers.
- ^ Lapide, Cornelius (1889). The great commentary of Cornelius à Lapide. Translated by Thomas Wimberly Mossman.
- ^ a b "Adoration of the shepherds | History, Art, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
- ISBN 0-313-24658-0, p. 18.
- ^ Hall, James (1996). Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. London: John Murray. p. 7.
- ^ "The Cyber Hymnal: Come, All Ye Shepherds". Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
Bibliography
- Beckwith, John (1969). Early Medieval Art. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-20019-X.
- Edwards, James R. (2015). The Gospel of Luke. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802837356.
- Levey, Michael (1961). From Giotto to Cézanne. Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-20024-6.
- Myers, Bernard (1965, 1985). Landmarks of Western Art. Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-35840-2.
External links
- Media related to Adoration of the Shepherds at Wikimedia Commons