Artwork
The Annunciation to the Shepherds
The Annunciation to the Shepherds is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem. It dates from 1649 and is held in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
An angel serves as the celestial messenger, while the human figures include a woman and a shepherd who receive the vision.
The artwork portrays the annunciation to the shepherds, a traditional religious subject recounting the biblical event where an angel reveals the birth of Jesus to shepherds in the fields. The composition integrates both divine and earthly elements to convey this narrative. An angel serves as the celestial messenger, while the human figures include a woman and a shepherd who receive the vision.
The pastoral setting is reinforced by the presence of cattle, rooting the sacred event in an agrarian context. Additionally, the depiction of the Holy Family connects the heavenly annunciation to the Nativity, emphasizing the theological significance of the scene as the revelation of the Incarnation to humble, everyday people.
Technique & Style
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem executed The Annunciation to the Shepherds in 1649 using oil paint on a canvas support. The work is a sizeable composition, measuring 216 cm in height and 314 cm in width. As a religious painting, its formal qualities organize the narrative around the depicted figures, including an angel, shepherds, a woman, cattle, and the Holy Family, within a Dutch pictorial tradition.
History & Provenance
The painting was created in the Netherlands in 1649 by Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, who both painted and executed the work as an oil on canvas religious scene. It entered the collection of Joséphine de Beauharnais before passing to Gerrit Braamcamp, and has been held by the Hermitage Museum since its acquisition.
The Annunciation to the Shepherds is currently held in the Hermitage Museum. The painting was formerly owned by Joséphine de Beauharnais and Gerrit Braamcamp. The provided sources do not record an inventory or accession number for the work, nor do they document any specific exhibition history.
Overview
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem’s 1649 oil painting entitled The Annunciation to the Shepherds presents a nocturnal tableau in which an angelic messenger appears above a group of shepherds and their livestock. The composition captures the moment of divine revelation, with the celestial light cutting through the darkness and drawing attention to the startled figures below.
Artist & collection
Artist
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1 October 1620 – 18 February 1683) was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and…
