The Adoration of the Shepherds, probably 1520/1540

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 41-A

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

overall: 74.6 x 57 cm (29 3/8 x 22 7/16 in.)

framed: 93.3 x 74.9 cm (36 3/4 x 29 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

Accession Number

1978.46.1

Artists / Makers

Adriaen Isenbrant (artist) Netherlandish, active 1510 - 1551

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

center right at base of ornament on the square column at right: NSI (the 'S' in reverse)

Provenance

(Kleinberger Gallery, Paris). (Paul Cassirer, Amsterdam, by June 1936). (Rudolf Heinemann, New York, by 1937-January 1975). (Feilchenfeldt, Zurich);[1] purchased 1978 by NGA.

[1] Information on the provenance was provided by Walter M. Feilchenfeldt and Mrs. Rudolf Heinemann. See NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Feilchenfeldt, Walter M.
Galerie Paul Cassirer
Heinemann, Rudolf J.
Kleinberger Gallery

Technical Summary

The painting is composed of two boards with vertical grain. The original panel has been mounted on a second piece of wood and thin wood strips have been attached around the edges. The painting is in generally good condition, but there is scattered abrasion and small losses throughout. There are small losses along the join line and around all edges. Infrared reflectography reveals underdrawing in the figures and architecture. In some instances the changes in the underdrawing are paralleled by changes in the paint layer, as, for instance, in the increased base of the square column at the extreme left and the corresponding adjustment in the hem of the Virgin's robe.

Bibliography

1924: Friedländer, Max J. Die altniederländische Malerei 14 vols. 1924-1937. Leiden, 1937: 14: 125. (English ed., 14 vols., 1967-1976. Leiden, 1974: 11:102, Suppl. 309, pl. 202.)

1978: Erwing, Dan. "The Paintings and Drawings of Jan de Beer." 2 vols. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1978: 1:78, 160; 2:fig. 94.

1983: Wilson, Jean. "Adriaen Isenbrant Reconsidered: The Making and Marketing of Art in Sixteenth-Century Bruges." Ph.D. diss., The Johns Hopkins University (1983):20-28, 191-192, pl. 17.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 158, no. 174, color repro.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 210, repro.

1986: Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 118-122, repro. 119.