Pieter Pourbus (Gouda 1523 – Bruges 1584)

Circle of

The Adoration of the Shepherds

16th–17th century

Oil on panel

74 x 51 cm.

In an antique temple-style frame, 110 x 94 cm.

The work depicted here, which illustrates the Nativity theme with the Adoration of the Shepherds, is a painting of excellent artistic quality that fits seamlessly within the oeuvre of the circle of the Flemish artist Pieter Pourbus (Gouda 1523 – Bruges 1584).

A master of the Flemish Renaissance, he was renowned for leading the Bruges school of painting in the second half of the 16th century.

His artistic output combines the Flemish technical tradition with the models of Italian Mannerism, distinguished by its extraordinary geometric precision and the sharpness of its details.

In particular, the defined anatomical details, the plasticity of the drapery and the theatrical gestures of the figures evoke the style of Flemish Romanism. This movement saw painters from the Low Countries reinterpreting Italian Mannerist and Renaissance models (particularly those of artists such as Giorgio Vasari and Frans Floris), blending them with the meticulous descriptive tradition of northern Europe.

Returning to the work itself, we are presented with a fine depiction of the moment when the shepherds reach the Nativity stable: the Virgin and Saint Joseph are portrayed proudly showing the infant to the group of shepherds who have come to worship him.

An interesting and unusual detail shows Joseph not merely as a silent spectator, but acting as a caring father to keep the newborn warm, drying his swaddling clothes by the fire: a motif much favoured by 16th- and 17th-century painters to humanise the sacred scene.

 

Naturally, his action is imbued with strong symbolic significance; the warmth against the cold symbolises, in fact, the earthly welcome extended to the Word made flesh in a hostile and cold world.

In the background, one can make out classical architecture in ruins, another symbolic element typical of Northern Renaissance painting, representing the decline of the pagan era and the birth of Christianity.

Against this backdrop, a beam of golden light breaks through the sky, from which an angel-messenger emerges to announce to the shepherds the birth of Jesus the Saviour. Here too, particular attention has been paid to the landscape below, featuring ancient towers and walls inspired by Bethlehem.

A particularly fine detail is the sumptuous and elaborate aedicule frame, carved from wood and finished in gilded and polychrome paint, within which the painting is set. The frame is embellished with fluted columns at the sides and crowned by a broken pediment decorated with cherub heads. This type of architectural frame accentuates the monumental aspect of the painting and was designed for devotional purposes both within private chapels and in private settings.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting comes with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic sheet.

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