The Adoration of the Shepherds

Girolamo da Carpi (Girolamo Sellari) Italian

ca. 1535–40

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 611

An angel, not the moon, illuminates the nighttime sky of this enchanting depiction of shepherds arriving to worship the sleeping Christ Child—shown remarkably robust and statue-like. Girolamo, who worked for the court at Ferrara, had visited Rome, where he studied the work of Raphael and drew from ancient sculpture. This experience shaped his ideas about ennobling poses and gestures—though without losing an ingratiating charm, evident here in the exchanged expressions of the shepherds and the rocky landscape with its buildings and waterfall.

Artwork Details

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Notes

Title: The Adoration of the Shepherds
Artist: Girolamo da Carpi (Girolamo Sellari) (Italian, Ferrara 1501–1556 Ferrara)
Date: ca. 1535–40
Medium: Oil on wood
Dimensions: 12 3/8 × 16 1/8 in. (31.4 × 41 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Maurizio and Dominique Canesso, in honor of Keith Christiansen, 2017
Object Number: 2017.651
Curatorial Department: European Paintings

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Sketches for the Design of a Casket (recto); Battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths(?) (verso), Girolamo da Carpi (Girolamo Sellari) Italian, Pen and brown ink — Sketches for the Design of a Casket (recto); Battle of the Centaurs and Lapiths(?) (verso)
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