The Adoration of the Shepherds by Corrado Giaquinto

The Adoration of the Shepherds by Corrado Giaquinto (1753–62)

Corrado Giaquinto

Corrado Giaquinto (1703–1766) was born in Molfetta, in Apulia. After training locally with Saverio Porta, he joined the workshop of Francesco Solimena in Naples from 1719 to 1723, and then moved to Rome, where he worked with Sebastiano Conca and by 1727 had his own studio. He also worked in Turin in the 1730s. In 1753 he went to Madrid as court painter to Ferdinand VI and became director of the Academy of San Fernando, and his work there influenced a generation of Spanish painters. He returned to Naples in 1762 and died there in 1766.

Historical context

The Prado dates this canvas to 1753–62, Giaquinto's years at the Spanish court, and it came to the museum from the Spanish Royal Collection. The Prado describes him as a heir to the Neapolitan tradition of Luca Giordano, and sees Giordano's figure types throughout this picture.

Religious significance

The subject comes from Luke's Gospel. The angel tells the shepherds of the birth, and "they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger" (Luke 2:16, Douay-Rheims).

What the picture shows

• The Christ Child: he lies on straw and a white cloth at the centre, and, as the Prado says, he is the source of the light, which falls on the faces around the manger.
• Mary and Joseph: Mary, in a pink dress and blue mantle, bends over the Child with her hands opened. Joseph stands behind her in the shadow, bearded, with a hand on his chest.
• The shepherds: at the front left a shepherd kneels with his hands together; at the right a half-naked shepherd sits with his head bowed and a hand to his hair. Behind them an old man with a white beard carries a sheep, and at the upper right another raises a staff.
• The women: at the left a woman holds a small child who clutches a white dove, with a boy peering over her shoulder; at the right two young women lean in to look, one with a coral necklace.
• The angels: winged children fly down out of the dark at the upper left. One of them holds a small bell. The Prado explains that the bell refers to the custom of announcing the good news of Christmas with bells and loud instruments.
• Animals and setting: a lamb lies in the foreground and a donkey looks in at the right edge. Above, the broken vault of a ruined building, with a carved rosette, opens onto a night sky.

Artistic techniques

• Light: the only strong light comes from the Child, so the edges of the canvas are dark and the figures nearest him are brightest.
• Composition: the figures are arranged in a ring around the manger, with the kneeling shepherd and the seated shepherd closing it at the front.
• Colour: Mary's pink and blue are the clearest colours; the shepherds are in muted greens, reds and browns.

The painting today

The canvas measures 261 by 215 centimetres and is in the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid (P003171). The number 1176 painted at the lower left matches one of the catalogue numbers recorded for the picture.

About this print

Made from a photograph of the whole canvas, in its tall format, from the angels and the ruined vault at the top to the lamb at the bottom.

Sources: Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, P003171 · Wikidata Q59782335 · Wikipedia, "Corrado Giaquinto" · Luke 2:8–20 (Douay-Rheims)