Badge with Adoration of the Shepherds (Escudo con la adoración de los pastores)

Executed in muted tones, the panel employs a restrained palette that unifies the figures and background. Soft modeling of drapery and gentle chiaroscuro create a calm atmosphere, while delicate brushwork renders the infant’s features and the texture of the hay. The composition’s compact scale and balanced arrangement reflect the conventions of 18th‑century New Spanish devotional painting.

José de Páez, a pupil of Nicolás Enríquez, produced the badge during a period when private religious objects were frequently commissioned in New Spain. Though originally intended for personal or ceremonial use, the work entered the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s collection in the 20th century, where it remains part of the museum’s holdings of colonial Mexican art.

The badge belongs to a broader tradition of small‑scale religious imagery that served both private devotion and liturgical functions in colonial Mexico. Páez’s oeuvre, which includes casta series and historical narratives, reflects the demand for visual representations of faith and social order under Spanish colonial rule. This piece exemplifies the intimate, contemplative art that complemented larger church altarpieces of the era.