Pupil of Rembrandt, 'The Adoration of the Shepherds', 1646

The Adoration of the Shepherds

Pupil of Rembrandt

Not on display

About the work

Overview

A burst of brilliant light shines on the newborn Christ, who is watched over by Mary, Joseph and a gathering of worshippers and onlookers. The source of the light is hidden, so it seems to radiate directly from the sleeping child, illuminating the faces of all around him.

The scene represents the episode in the Bible when shepherds arrived to pay homage to the Messiah. One kneels, raising his hands in wonder. Another is silhouetted against the light, while a third stands reverently to one side. Along with the animals in the background, this was the traditional cast of an Adoration of the Shepherds. But the artist added other figures, including the two women holding up a small child, to give the scene a more informal atmosphere.

A closely related version of the Adoration known to be by Rembrandt is in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Analysis suggests that it is likely that the London picture is a study inspired by the Munich one, made by a highly competent apprentice.

In-depth

A burst of brilliant light shines on the newborn Christ, who lays in a manger of straw and is watched over by Mary, Joseph and a gathering of worshippers and onlookers. The source of this light is hidden, so it seems to radiate directly from the sleeping child, illuminating the faces of all around him. It is made all the more intense by the deep shadows of the stable; in the gloom, we can just pick out the shapes of the animals, the basket above Joseph’s head and the rafters in the roof space.

The scene represents the episode in the Bible (Luke 2: 6–20) when the shepherds pay homage to the Messiah, but only three of the figures here are shepherds. One kneels, raising his hands in wonder. Next to him another is silhouetted dramatically against the bright light, while a third stands reverently to one side, the candle in his lantern dim compared with the brilliance before him. These men, along with an ox and what seems to be a donkey in the shadows behind, were the traditional cast of the Adoration of the Shepherds. But the artist has added other figures, which gives the scene a more informal, everyday feel. Two women hold up a small child so that it can see the baby, while more people stand in the shadows on the right, including a boy with a dog.

This is one of two versions of the Adoration signed by Rembrandt. The other, closely related to this one, is in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. The Munich version belongs to a series of scenes from the life of Christ made for the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange, between 1632 and 1646. It is about one-third larger than the National Gallery picture, which does not appear to be part of a series and was painted in the same year (1646). The composition of both paintings is similar, though reversed: in the Munich version, the holy family is to the right and the shepherds are to the left, and there are many other subtle differences between the two.

The London painting is signed and dated by Rembrandt but recent cleaning, combined with its relationship to the Munich painting, suggests that it is likely a study inspired by the Munich one, made by a highly competent apprentice. While the overall effect is powerful, the brushwork is quite different from Rembrandt’s usual practice and some of the figures are depicted rather clumsily, without much depth – Mary’s face is a good example. However, the unique way the canvas was prepared means that it was almost certainly made in Rembrandt’s studio, something also confirmed by X-ray images of the Munich work. These show that the shepherd silhouetted against the light originally had his hands folded in prayer, as in the London version, but Rembrandt changed the pose to one with outstretched hands. The artist who made the London picture must therefore have seen Rembrandt’s painting in the studio before this change was made.

It was common for young artists to learn either by copying or, as they developed, creating variants in the same style as their master. If the paintings were considered of sufficient quality, Rembrandt might then sign them as his own, which is what seems to have happened here.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Adoration of the Shepherds
Artist: Pupil of Rembrandt
Artist dates: 1606 - 1669
Date made: 1646
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 65.5 × 55 cm
Inscription summary: Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1824
Inventory number: NG47
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: John Julius Angerstein

Provenance

In the Maréchal de Noailles sale, Paris [1767], lot 53 (2,751 francs); Mme la Présidente de Bandeville sale, Paris, 3 sqq. December 1787 (lot 15), bought by Remy (3,000 francs); Claude Tolozan sale, Paris, 23 sqq. February 1801 (lot 95), bought for an English purchaser (10,000 francs). It was in the collection of John Julius Angerstein by June 1807. Purchased with the Angerstein collection, 1824.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2010

Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries

The National Gallery (London)

30 June 2010 - 12 September 2010
2011

Rembrandt: The Quest for Chiaroscuro

The National Museum of Western Art

12 March 2011 - 12 June 2011

Nagoya City Art Museum

25 June 2011 - 4 September 2011
2014

Strange Beauty: Masters of the German Renaissance

The National Gallery (London)

19 February 2014 - 11 May 2014

Bibliography

1823

J. Young, A Catalogue of the Celebrated Collection of Pictures of the Late John Julius Angerstein, Esq: Containing a Finished Etching of Every Picture, and Accompanied with Historical and Biographical Notices, London 1823
1830

J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
1897

W. von Bode and C. Hofstede de Groot, The Complete Work of Rembrandt, 8 vols, Paris 1897
1907

C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
1909

A. Rosenberg and W.R. Valentiner, Rembrandt: Des Meisters Gemalde mit einer biographischen Einleitung, Stuttgart 1909
1923

A. Bredius, 'Christ Blessing the Children by Maes (?)', The Burlington Magazine, XLIII/246, 1923, pp. 104-5
1923

W.R. Valentiner, 'Early Drawings by Nicolaes Maes', The Burlington Magazine, XLIII/244, 1923, pp. 16-22
1960

Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
1985

G. Schwartz, Rembrandt: His Life, His Paintings, Harmondsworth 1985
1988

D. Bomford et al., Rembrandt (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 12 October 1988 - 17 January 1989), London 1988
1989

J. Mills and R. White, 'Paint Media Analyses', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIII, 1989, pp. 69-71
1991

Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
1992

J.P. Filedt Kok, 'Bij een aanwinst. De tweede staat van Rembrandts ets. De Aanbidding der herders: Een nachtstuck', Bulletin van het Rijksmuseum, XL/2, 1992, pp. 161-71
1993

C. Tümpel, Rembrandt: All Paintings in Colour, Antwerp 1993
1995

E.H. Gombrich, Shadows: The Depiction of Cast Shadows in Western Art (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 26 April - 18 June 1995), London 1995
1996

J. Edwards, Alexandre-Joseph Paillet: Expert et marchand de tableaux à la fin du XVIIIe siècle, Paris 1996
1998

S. Rosenthal, B. Schwenk and A. Longhis, Die Nacht (exh. cat. Haus der Kunst, 1 November - 7 February 1999), Wabern-Bern 1998
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2006

M.C. Plomp, 'Rembrandt and His Circle. Drawings and Prints. Pupils', Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, LXIV/1, 2006, pp. 34-46
2006

K. Bahre et al., Rembrandt: Genie auf der Suche (exh. cat. Rembrandtshuis, 1 April - 2 July 2006; Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 4 August - 5 November 2006), Zwolle 2006
2006

D. Bomford et al., Rembrandt (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 12 October 1988 - 17 January 1989), London 2006
2006

E. van de Wetering, Rembrandt: Quest of a Genius (exh. cat. Rembrandtshuis, 1 April - 2 July 2006; Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 4 August - 5 November 2006), Amsterdam 2006
2006

E. van de Wetering, '"Principaelen" and Satellites: Pupils' Production in Rembrandt's Workshop', in L.B. Rønberg and E. de la Pedersen (eds), Rembrandt?: The Master and his Workshop, Copenhagen 2006, pp. 106-22

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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