The Adoration of the Shepherds

Anton Raphael Mengs completed this oil on canvas in 1764 as an altarpiece for the private chapel of King Charles III of Spain in Madrid. Lighting problems soon necessitated its relocation to the private chambers of the Prince de Asturias. Upon Charles III's death, the work passed by inheritance to Charles IV, remaining in the royal collection until 1808.

Following the Bourbon abdication, Joseph Bonaparte acquired the painting, transporting it eventually to his estate at Point Breeze in New Jersey by 1816. After Bonaparte's death, the work appeared in his estate sale in 1847 and a subsequent Philadelphia auction in 1852. William Wilson Corcoran acquired it by 1857 and gifted it to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1869. The National Gallery of Art acquired the piece in 2014.

The Adoration of the Shepherds has come to symbolize the transmission of 18th-century religious art from royal Spanish patronage to American museum holdings. After its removal from the Spanish court due to lighting concerns, the work passed through the Bonaparte family, was sold in Philadelphia, and entered the collection of William Wilson Corcoran, eventually becoming part of the Corcoran Gallery and later the National Gallery of Art. Its documented provenance illustrates a rare trajectory from a private chapel altarpiece to a public collection, a path that scholars cite when discussing the preservation and display of European religious painting in the United States.

Anton Raphael Mengs created The Adoration of the Shepherds around 1764, employing oil on canvas. This religious painting depicts the biblical scene of the Christ Child's birth, surrounded by Mary, Joseph, and kneeling shepherds. The composition is distinguished by a warm, internal light that appears to emanate from the infant, illuminating the figures and emphasizing the sacred nature of the humble stable setting.