The Adoration of the Shepherds

above, Corregio

Xave a xolly Jolly Xmas, its the best time of the year! Xappy Xollidays! Xo,xo, xo Merry Xmas!
I'll be xome for xmas, youx can count on me! Phrosteee the xnowman! Xrudolph the xred nosed xreindeer, Xad a very Xhiny noxe.

OK, here's the scripture;
¹And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.²(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) ³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. ⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night ⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.¹⁵And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.¹⁶And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.¹⁷And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.¹⁸And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Artists have loved the adoration of the shepherds for a number of reasons. First of all you have the great event, angels, some local rustics, maybe some barnyard animals and weird backcountry architecture, but more than that ITS A NIGHT SCENE! all suffused with awe and holiness. That's a marvelous opportunity for a painter. Painters have used dramatic lighting, like in the Rembrandt above.That is an absolutely stunning picture by the way. Rembrandts Christ in born in a stable, and he knew what a stable was and he knew what Shepherds looked like too.Notice the big areas of darks in both pictures above and how they "sew" the pictures together. The light effect in this Rembrandt is so great, and he has all the possible variations going on too. He has Christ as a light source, the holy family and their visitors are illuminated by that light, and a figure cuts in front of it.That even further capitalize on the pictorial devices made available by his use of this light source. But most importantly I think Rembrandt has created a scene of awe and hushed reverence. These people are aware of the giant importance of what they are seeing. I don't really think there are a lot of better paintings than this one, but as I said before, Rembrandt is the Beatles of painting.

This is a Boucher, he takes a very different approach, his painting is decorative and very stylized. He was a mannerist painter and everything he did was that way. A very different approach, I think less effective too, but its still great painting. Everything in it is arrayed in a sort of swooping inverted arc, like a big U shape with Christ placed at the balance point. Boucher is a generation or so later than Rembrandt and his art is a revolution away from that dark style and is considered Rococo. Incidentally the famous and wonderful quote from Boucher is "Nature is too green, and badly lit" wouldn't that make a great neck tattoo for a landscape painter?
Xmerri Xmas!

images from artrenewal.org