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Adoration of the Shepherds

Maker

Follower of
(artist)
1499-1543

Title

Date of Production

1535 - 1540

Medium

red chalk, red wash and white bodycolour on laid paper, with brown ink framing lines, laid down on a historic mount

Dimensions

Height: 24.2 cm
Width: 18.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1978.PG.354

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The rich combination of red chalk, wash and white bodycolour endows this dramatically lit and highly finished drawing with a particularly vivid pictorial effect of light and dark, known as chiaroscuro. This technique was mastered by Polidoro da Caravaggio, a painter who had several gifted followers in Naples, such
as the anonymous draughtsman of this scene depicting the Christ Child adored by the Holy Family and the shepherds. The classical architecture situates the origins of Christianity in the ruins of the ancient world.

Provenance

Sir Peter Lely, London (1618-1680), L.2092 (lower right); Sotheby's (London), 22 February 1961, lot 33 (among the 'three others' listed, according to note from John Gere in object file); purchased there by Hans M. Calmann, London (1899-1982); anonymous sale, Sotheby's (London), 1 December 1964, lot 172 (repr.); purchased there via Colnaghi (London) by Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978) (£300); Princes Gate Bequest 1978

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Renaissance Modern, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 22/04/2015-07/06/2015

Literature

Ravelli, Lanfranco, Polidoro Valdara da Caravaggio, Bergamo 1978
no. 919
ill. on p. 455
under 'Maniera Polidoresca', not Polidoro, close to a young Taddeo Zuccaro, c. 1550

Seilern, Count Antoine, Italian paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW7. Addenda, London 1969; V
no. 354
pl. XXXVI
as Polidoro, dated c. 1527

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: upper centre edge (only visible from verso with transmitted light), but unable to identify or see clearly due to mount.

Inscription: Mount (historic), Recto: lower centre, brown ink: “P:C:”. Mount (historic), Verso (only visible via transmitted light – seems the mount is composed of two layers of paper and the top layer inscribed before being laid down): lower centre edge, ink: “Polidoro 8.3”. Mount (historic), Verso: lower right edge, graphite, Colnaghi number: “D27434”.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower right corner, stamped in black: Peter Lely (L.2092).

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