16th Century Adoration of The Shepherds Painting Oil on Copper

Adoration of the Shepherds

Oil on copper, 39 x 29.5 cm

Frame 47 x 39 cm

The refined taste, the refined poses, the definition of the anatomies, the vibrant light, allow us to identify for this painting the hand of a Mannerist painter active during the sixteenth century. In particular, the composition and stylistic research allow us to attribute the panel to Girolamo Siciolante, known as da Sermoneta (1521 – 1575). His first training took place under the guidance of Leonardo Grazia known as da Pistoia (1502 – 1548). Later he settled in Rome where he was able to see the painting of Raphael and Michelangelo from life and where he was first a pupil and then a collaborator of Perin del Vaga (1501 – 1547). He settled in Rome where he received numerous commissions and participated in the decoration of numerous churches, such as the church of S. Maria dell’Anima, where there is a cycle with Stories of the Virgin, including a Nativity of the Virgin, a Presentation of the Virgin and a Visitation which have stylistic and formal consonances with the copper analyzed here. Another interesting stylistic comparison is identified with a fresco in the Vatican Palaces, depicting Pepin, king of the Franks, donating the territory of Astolfo king of the Lombards to the Church.

Around 1545, he made a trip to Emilia, where he met the works of Garofalo (1476 – 1559) and Bagnacavallo (1484 -1542). This experience opened his culture to also Emilian influences, with a classicist taste. The particular use of the light of this copper gives a charm and a rare quality to the composition: the light turns on and gives a mystical charm to the main figures, the center of the work and in the same way, in a more light and suffused way, it lights up the other figures. and the background, which fades into a broad architectural perspective.

The adoration of the shepherds is an event in the life of Jesus described in the Gospel of Luke (2: 8-20): at the moment of his birth in Bethlehem some shepherds are warned of the event by an angel and go to adore the newborn. Luke’s Gospel is the only one of the canonical Gospels to narrate the episode. While some shepherds watched outdoors watching over the flock, an angel appears to them and they are frightened. The angel calms them and tells them that a Savior, Jesus, was born in Bethlehem; He also gives him a sign that in Bethlehem they would find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Immediately afterwards a group of angels appears, chanting the words “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to the men he loves”. After the angels are gone,

The back of the copper is embellished with a representation of St. Joseph with the Child.