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The adoration of the shepherds
Also titled De aanbidding der herders
Jan Havicksz. Steen (Leiden, ca. –1679)
1660 - 1679
- Medium
- canvas, oil paint (paint)
- Classification
- painting
- Dimensions
- height 53 cm x width 64 cm
- Museum
- Rijksmuseum
- Rights
- Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
About this work
Jan Steen (1626 - 1679). The Adoration of the shepherds, c. 1660.Tenderly Mary shows the newborn baby Jesus to the shepherds. They have come to the stable in great numbers, bearing all sorts of gifts. They gaze in reverence at the radiant child in the manger. The stable, in which an ox and a donkey occupy a prominent place, is shrouded in darkness. But outside, the dawn is nigh, a reference to the era heralded by the birth of Jesus. Jan Steen has transformed this biblical tale into an eminently human event. There is the same warmth and humour as in the scenes of everyday life: Joseph accepts a bowl of eggs, while on the left a child is warming up some porridge. From the collection of H. Witsen (Amsterdam), the Lord of Tabley, and others. Purchased in 1947.
