Annunciation to the Shepherds

Jean Jacques Lagrenée French

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The Gospel of Luke describes the sudden appearance of an angel to a group of shepherds keeping watch over their flock at night. As "the glory of the Lord" shines around them, the angel announces the news of the birth of the Messiah. In this finished drawing, exhibited in Paris in 1775, the shepherds can barely withstand the angel's powerful luminosity, suggested by the crisp strokes of white gouache that gleam against the vibrant blue paper.

Annunciation to the Shepherds, Jean Jacques Lagrenée (French, Paris 1739–1821 Paris), Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, heightened with white, on blue-washed paper

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