The Adoration of the Shepherds

El Greco’s late work is characterized by a tendency toward abstraction and almost dancelike, restless movement that animates the painted surface but always serves his narrative. His shepherds’ lively gestures, for example, indicate their excitement at Christ’s birth. Though the figures’ forms are woven together tightly, a space has been left for the viewer to enter. El Greco uses the infant Christ as the light source to illuminate the night, dramatically highlighting the faces of his family and shepherds. El Greco often made replicas or variants of important compositions such as this, and at least eight versions of this subject were listed in his studio when he died in 1614.