The Adoration of the Shepherds

1505/1510

Giorgione

Artist, Venetian, 1477/1478 - 1510

Four people with pale skin are gathered to our right in a landscape, their heads bowed down toward an infant who lies on a white cloth on the ground in this horizontal painting. The nude baby has a rounded belly, chubby limbs, and short blond hair. To our right and near the edge of the panel, a woman kneels with her hands in prayer, looking toward the baby so she faces our left in profile. She wears a lapis-blue robe over a rose-pink dress, and a white cloth covers her head and shoulders. Behind her and to our left, a man with a white beard, wearing a golden yellow robe, sits or kneels next to a rock at the mouth of a cave cut into a rocky outcropping that extends off the top of the composition. To the left of the baby and at the center of the foreground, a pair of men wear tattered clothing and hold shepherd’s staffs. The man closer to us kneels with his hands pressed together in prayer as the man behind him bends his knee as if to kneel. The landscape recedes deep into the distance on the left half of the painting with a winding river, houses and other buildings, grassy hills, and mountains beneath a blue sky. A small winged angel wearing white looks down on the scene from the upper left corner.

Media Options

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Giorgione has always been considered one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, and one whose influence on following generations of painters was considerable. For all his fame, very little is known about his short life (he may have died during a plague epidemic in 1510 at age 32 or 33), and only a few paintings can be definitively attributed to him. He initially studied with Giovanni Bellini, seems to have been influenced by Leonardo, and could claim Titian and Sebastiano del Piombo as his pupils.

The Adoration of the Shepherds, or the Allendale Nativity, as it is commonly known after one of its previous owners, is now almost unanimously accepted as Giorgione’s work. This important painting had an immediate impact on Venetian artists. The composition is divided into two parts, with a dark cave on the right and a luminous Venetian landscape on the left. The shimmering draperies of Joseph and Mary are set off by the darkness behind them and contrast with the tattered dress of the shepherds. The scene is one of intense meditation; the rustic, yet dignified, shepherds are the first to recognize Christ's divinity and they kneel accordingly. Mary and Joseph also participate in the adoration, creating an atmosphere of intimacy.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 10

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 90.8 x 110.5 cm (35 3/4 x 43 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1939.1.289

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Cardinal Joseph Fesch [1763-1839], Rome; (his sale, Palazzo Ricci, Rome, 17 March 1845 and days following, no. 874). Claudius Tarral, Paris; (Tarral sale, Christie & Manson, London, 11 June 1847, no. 55); purchased by (Banting) for Thomas Wentworth Beaumont [d. 1848], Bretton Hall, Yorkshire, England; by inheritance to his son, Wentworth Blackett Beaumont, 1st baron Allendale [1829-1907], Bretton Hall; by inheritance to his son, Wentworth Canning Blackett Beaumont, 1st viscount and 2nd baron Allendale [1860-1923], Bretton Hall; by inheritance to his son, Wentworth Henry Canning Beaumont, 2nd viscount and 3rd baron Allendale [1890-1956], Bretton Hall;[1] sold August 1937 to (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[2] sold 1938 to the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[3] gift 1939 to NGA.
[1] Provenance according to Kress records in NGA curatorial files.
[2] The painting is listed in the Duveen Brothers General Stock Book for the period 1 June 1937 to April 1941, and is annotated "Purchased Aug. 3, 1937" (copy in NGA curatorial files; Duveen Brothers Records, Accession No. 960015, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: reel 66, box 186). See also the letter of 4 March 1965 from Ellis Waterhouse to Fern Rusk Shapley, in NGA curatorial files.
[3] Letter, 21 June 1938, Duveen Brothers, Inc., to Samuel Kress (Duveen Brothers Records, Accession No. 960015, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: reel 329, box 474, folder 5; copy in NGA curatorial files). See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2049.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1912

  • A Collection of Pictures of the Early Venetian School and Other Works of Art, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1912, no. 19 (no. 58 and frontispiece in illustrated catalogue titled Early Venetian Pictures and Other Works of Art).

1930

  • Exhibition of Italian Art 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1930, no. 395 (no. 332, pl. CXXV of commemorative catalogue published 1931; not in souvenir catalogue).

1979

  • Berenson and the Connoisseurship of Italian Painting, Natioanal Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1979, no. 60, repro.

1988

  • The Pastoral Landscape: The Legacy of Venice, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1988-1989, no. 3, fig. 43.

2006

  • Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 2006-2007, no. 17, repro., as Adoration of the Shepherds ("Allendale Nativity"), fig. 2 in brochure.

Bibliography

1941

  • Duveen Brothers. Duveen Pictures in Public Collections of America. New York, 1941: nos. 147-150, repros.

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 78-79, no. 400, pl. V.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 247, repro. 113.

1944

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 64, color repro.

  • Frankfurter, Alfred M. The Kress Collection in the National Gallery. New York, 1944: 47, repro.

1945

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1945 (reprinted 1947, 1949): 99, repro.

1946

  • Favorite Paintings from the National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.. New York, 1946: 15-18, color repro.

1949

  • L. J. Roggeveen. "De National Gallery of Art te Washington." Phoenix 4, no. 12 (December 1949): 337, repro. 335.

1951

  • Einstein, Lewis. Looking at Italian Pictures in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1951: 78-82, repro.

1956

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1956: 26, color repro.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 133.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 154, repro.

1960

  • The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 19, color repro. 12.

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Later Italian Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1960 (Booklet Number Six in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 24, color repro.

1961

  • Walker, John, Guy Emerson, and Charles Seymour. Art Treasures for America: An Anthology of Paintings & Sculpture in the Samuel H. Kress Collection. London, 1961: 94, repro. 88, color repro. 86, 89.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 142, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 58.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:160, color repro.

  • Schiller, Gertrud. Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst. 6 vols. Gütersloh, 1966-1990: 1:98, 218, 328, fig. 221.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 50, repro.

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XV-XVI Century. London, 1968: 151-152, fig. 367-370.

  • Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 12, 45-47, color repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 152, repro.

1978

  • Gibbons, Felton. "Further Thoughts on the Allendale Nativity." Studies in the History of Art vol. 8 (1978):23-34, color repro.

1979

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Catalogue of the Italian Paintings. 2 vols. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979: 1:208-211; 2:pl. 144.

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 35, pl. 17.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 196, no. 232, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 175, repro.

  • Ford, Brinsley. "Pictures lost to the Nation." NACF Magazine 29 (Christmas 1985): 17, repro. 18.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 180-181, 183, color repro.

  • Morandotti, Alessandro. "La fortuna collezionistica della pittura gotica e rinascimentale fra Ottocento e Novecento." In Mauro Natale, ed. Pittura italiana dal '300 al '500. Milan, 1991: 43.

1992

  • Rearick, W. R. "From Arcady to the Barnyard." Studies in the History of Art 36 (1992):137-141. repro. no. 1.

  • Rosand, David. "Pastoral Topoi: On the Construction of Meaning in Landscape." Studies in the History of Art 36 (1992):164, repro. no. 1.

  • National Gallery of Art. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1992: 28, repro.

1993

  • Freedberg, S. J. "The Attribution of the Allendale Nativity." Studies in the History of Art 45 (1993): 51-70, repro. no. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 14, 23.

  • Steinberg, Arthur. "Blurred Boundaries, Opulent Nature, and Sensuous Flesh: Changing Technological Styles in Venetian Painting, 1480-1520." Studies in the History of Art 45 (1993): 216.

1994

  • Freedberg, Sydney J. “The Benson Holy Family: A Reconsideration.” In Pierre Rosenberg, Cécile Scailliérez, and Dominique Thiébaut, eds. Hommage à Michel Laclotte. Études sur la peinture du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance. Milan and Pars, 1994: 324, 327, 328, 330, 332-333, repro., as by Titian.

1995

  • Bettagno, Alessandro, and Giorgio Fossaluzza. “Interpretazioni del paesaggio nella pittura veneta.” In Alessandro Bettagno, ed. Natura e arte nel paesaggio veneto. Dalle interpretazioni pittoriche alle immagine fotografiche. Turin, 1995: 162-163, figs. 55, 56.

1997

  • Freedman, Luba. The "Blurred" Horizon in Leonardo's Paintings, France, 1997, no. 1, repro.

  • Anderson, Jaynie. Giorgione: The Painter of "Poetic Brevity". New York, 1997: 294-295, repro.

1998

  • Gibson, Sarah S. “Shepherds/Shepherdesses." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:820, 823.

2001

  • Wilson, Carolyn C. St. Joseph in Italian Renaissance Society and Art: New Directions and Interpretations. Philadelphia, 2001: 209 n. 90.

2004

  • Danziger, Elon. "The Cook Collection: Its Founder and Its Inheritors." The Burlington Magazine 146, no. 1216 (July 2004): 453.

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 90-91, no. 64, color repro.

  • Santucci, Paola. Su Andrea Mantegna. Naples, 2004: 196, 431 pl. XCVI.

2006

  • Hartt, Frederick, and David G. Wilkins. History of Italian Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, 2006: 600, color fig. 19.2.

2008

  • Bacchi, Andrea and Luciana Giacomelli, eds Rinascimento e passione per l'antico: Andrea Riccio e il suo tempo. Exh. cat. Castello di Buonconsiglio. Trento, 2008: 360.

2010

  • Villa, Giovanni Carlo Federico, ed. Cima da Conegliano: poeta del paesaggio. Exh. cat. Palazzo Sarcinelli, Conegliano, 2010: 58.

2011

  • Nardini, Claudio. Il natale--arte e letteratura. Florence, 2010: dust jacket cover, 117, 118-119, 256, color repros.

2012

  • Cohen, Rachel. “Priceless: How Art Became Commerce” The New Yorker 88, no. 31 (October 8, 2012): 70-71

2013

  • Roberts, Roxanne and Amy Argetsinger. "Viscount Visits a Family Heirloom." Washington Post 136, no. 238 (July 31, 2013): C2, color fig.

  • Grassi, Marco. "Bernard Berenson Revisited." The New Criterion 32, no. 4 (December 2013): 11.

2015

  • Brown, David Alan. "Looking Backward; Americans Collect Italian Renaissance Art." In A Market for Merchant Princes: Collecting Italian Renaissance Paintings in America ed. Inge Reist. (The Frick Collection Studies in the History of Art Collecting in America, 2) University Park, Pennsylvania, 2015: 2-3, 4, color fig. 2.

2017

  • Serres, Karen. "Duveen's Italian framemaker, Ferruccio Vannoni." The Burlington Magazine 159, no. 1370 (May 2017): 374 n. 45.

2020

  • Zaninelli, Fulvia. "The Interesting Case of Alessandro Contini Bonacossi (1878-1955) and Wilhelm von Bode (1845-1929)." In Florence, Berlin and Beyond. Late Nineteenth-Century Art Markets and Their Social Networks, ed. Lynn Catterson. Leiden, Boston, 2020: 286, fig. 8.5

2024

  • Dal Pozzolo, Enrico Maria. Sebastiano del Piombo. Da Giorgione a Raffaello e Michelangelo. Un pittore musico tra Venezia e Roma (1501-1511). Quinto di Treviso, 2024: 134, 142, 149.

  • Földes, Anneliese, Johanna Pawis, Heike Stege, et al. “One Canvas, Four Ideas: A Double Portrait Attributed to Giorgione with Different Compositions Underneath.” Artmatters International Journal for Technical Art History. Vol. 1, no. 1 (2024): 12.

Wikidata ID

Q3605563

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