Artwork
The Adoration of the Shepherds
The Adoration of the Shepherds is an oil painting by the High Baroque Italian artist Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari. It dates from 1720 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts the Adoration of the Shepherds, a scene from the Nativity in which shepherds gather to honor the newborn Christ Child.
The painting depicts the Adoration of the Shepherds, a scene from the Nativity in which shepherds gather to honor the newborn Christ Child. In Chiari’s composition, the infant Jesus lies at the center of attention, radiating divine light that illuminates the surrounding figures and underscores his sacred significance. The shepherds, positioned around the manger, express reverence and wonder, emphasizing the moment’s humility and spiritual revelation.
Traditional iconographic elements such as the manger, swaddling clothes, and the presence of angels reinforce the narrative’s identification with the biblical account of Christ’s birth.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil on canvas in 1720, the painting shows the characteristic handling of late Baroque religious compositions, with a warm, evenly lit palette and softly modeled forms that emphasize the sacred scene’s tenderness. The figures are arranged in a shallow, stage-like space, directing attention to the Christ Child while maintaining a balanced, symmetrical grouping of shepherds and attendant angels around the Virgin and Joseph. Brushwork appears fluid and blended in flesh and drapery, with highlights applied sparingly to articulate contours and folds, a technique consistent with Chiari’s academic training in Rome.
History & Provenance
Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari created the oil-on-canvas painting The Adoration of the Shepherds in 1720. The work is classified as a religious genre piece depicting the Christ Child and the adoration of the shepherds. Currently, the painting is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
The artwork measures 645 cm in height and 485 cm in width. No specific commission details or prior ownership chain are recorded in the available sources, though the creation date is firmly established as 1720.
Context
Scholarship on The Adoration of the Shepherds situates it within early 18th-century Roman religious painting, reflecting the enduring influence of ecclesiastical patronage in Rome. The work demonstrates the stylistic continuity between late Baroque narrative painting and the emerging Rococo sensibility, particularly in its intimate devotional subject and soft modeling of figures. Its placement in the Statens Museum for Kunst collection underscores its significance within Northern European museum acquisitions of Italian Baroque works.
Overview
Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari, a Roman painter of the late Baroque, completed an oil on canvas titled The Adoration of the Shepherds in 1720. The work, now part of the Statens Museum for Kunst’s holdings, presents a quiet, nocturnal scene in which a newborn Christ lies in a straw‑filled manger surrounded by shepherds and a veiled woman.
Artist & collection
Artist
Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (10 March 1654 – 8 September 1727), also known as simply Giuseppe Chiari, was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mostly in Rome.
- The Adoration of the Shepherds
The Adoration of the Shepherds
The Adoration of the Shepherds
The Adoration of the Shepherds
The Adoration of the Shepherds
The Adoration of the Shepherds
The Adoration of the Shepherds
The Adoration of the Shepherds
Adoration of the Shepherds
Adoration of the Shepherds
Adoration of the Sheperds
Adoration of the Shepherds (Hermitage)