Description
The Adoration of the Shepherds is Rembrandt’s Christmas painting of 1646: in a dark stable shepherds kneel before the manger, where the child lies in the strongest light, with Mary and Joseph beside him. The original, oil on canvas with a round-arched top, is 97 cm high and 71.3 cm wide and hangs in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas in 6 portrait sizes, from 92 x 127 to 166 x 230 cm, or to your own measurement, and send you a photograph of the finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | The Adoration of the Shepherds |
| Other titles: | Die Anbetung der Hirten · De aanbidding door de herders |
| Painter: | Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) |
| Year painted: | 1646, Amsterdam |
| Original size: | 97 cm x 71.3 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, Dutch Golden Age |
| Located at: | Alte Pinakothek, Munich (inv. 393) |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes or made to measure |
The Adoration of the Shepherds – Rembrandt
What does The Adoration of the Shepherds show?
Low in the centre the child lies in the manger on straw, and the strongest light in the painting spreads from him. To the right of the manger sits Mary in a white headscarf, Joseph leans in behind her, and on the left a shepherd kneels with folded hands, two more behind him.
Further back stand other shepherds, one in a turban, and at the left edge someone holds a lit lantern. At the upper right a ladder leads up to the hayloft, from which another figure looks down into the dark, and a small fire glows in the lower right corner.
Why is the painting almost entirely dark?
Because this is the night of the birth: Rembrandt leaves two thirds of the canvas in the darkness of the stable and gathers all attention into a small circle of light around the manger. The shepherds’ faces are lit only as far as they are close to the child.
That is why The Adoration of the Shepherds is a calm, quiet Christmas painting without angels or gold: plain people in a stable and a light in the middle of the night.
Who did Rembrandt paint The Adoration of the Shepherds for?
For Prince Frederick Henry of Orange, stadtholder of the United Provinces. The painting belongs to the so-called Passion cycle of six paintings, which the Alte Pinakothek holds today.
The museum writes that Rembrandt did not paint the canvases in the order of the gospels: he finished The Deposition in 1633 and The Adoration of the Shepherds only in 1646. The prince died in 1647, which according to the museum text probably prevented further scenes.
Where can I see the original?
In the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inventory number 393, in Room IX on the upper floor. The museum received it in 1806 from the Düsseldorf gallery.
The Raising of the Cross from the same cycle hangs in the same room; Rembrandt painted it around 1633.
How do we paint the arch at the top?
The top edge of the original is a half-circle, so in the museum photograph the upper corners are empty and white. We carry the arch over onto the rectangular canvas exactly as Rembrandt painted it and paint the empty corners in the dark brown of the stable, so that the painting merges into the background without a break.
The Adoration of the Shepherds is a canvas painting for a home where Christmas is the feast of the year, for a chapel or a parish house. Its biblical companion is Simeon’s Song of Praise, the story continues in The Flight into Egypt, and Rembrandt’s light in the dark is best known from The Night Watch. All the famous Rembrandt paintings we offer are gathered on the Rembrandt page.
How does the painter paint your Adoration of the Shepherds?
This Rembrandt reproduction is built from dark to light: in oil on canvas the painter first lays in the brown, almost black layers of the stable, then the shepherds’ faces, and only at the very end the white of the child and the swaddling cloth.
He adds the flame of the lantern on the left and the fire at the lower right in warm yellow strokes. An oil painting reproduction like this glows under a lamp in a way a paper print cannot.
Which size should I choose?
Even our smallest size, 92 x 127 cm, is larger than the original, which is 71.3 cm wide and 97 cm high. There are 6 portrait sizes to choose from (width x height): 92 x 127, 105 x 145, 120 x 160, 130 x 185, 151 x 200 and 166 x 230 cm.
For the wall above a sideboard or in a hallway choose 92 x 127 cm. As a painting for the living room, 105 x 145 and 120 x 160 cm suit best, 130 x 185 cm fills the wall beside a staircase, and 151 x 200 and 166 x 230 cm are for tall walls, chapels and churches.
Because the painting is dark, give it light from above or from the side, so that the circle around the manger lights up.
Is another size possible, and which frame suits it?
Yes. The Adoration of the Shepherds is about 3 : 4 in proportion, which we keep in every size so that the arch and the ladder stay whole. Send us the size you want for The Adoration of the Shepherds and we reply with a price and a date.
The Adoration of the Shepherds arrives rolled, on a stretcher bar or framed; like every painting we send, our workshop in Slovenia prepares it for shipping. In the 3D application you compare frames for it; seeing it on your own wall is another service. A narrow gold frame catches the warm light around the manger, dark wood keeps the night.
Will the painting arrive before Christmas?
We paint The Adoration of the Shepherds to order and dispatch it within 15 to 45 working days, so for Christmas order at least two months ahead. The parcel with The Adoration of the Shepherds travels customs-free across the EU; before it leaves you receive a photograph of the painted work and can ask for a correction. Our returns policy applies to every order.
If the person receiving it should choose the size, for Christmas there is the wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the original Adoration of the Shepherds hang?
In the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, inventory number 393.
When did Rembrandt paint it?
In 1646, as the last painting of his cycle for Prince Frederick Henry.
Where does the light in the painting come from?
It is strongest around the child in the manger; a lantern burns on the left and a small fire at the lower right.
Why are the upper corners white in the photograph?
The original has a half-round top; in our painting we paint the corners dark like the stable.
Is it a print?
No, The Adoration of the Shepherds is a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, done with a brush.
Is any size the same as the original?
No, all our sizes are larger; the smallest is 92 x 127 cm.
When should I order for Christmas?
At least two months ahead, because we dispatch within 15 to 45 working days.
Who would like The Adoration of the Shepherds as a gift?
A family at Christmas, a parish or godparents.
- Subject: shepherds kneel in a stable at night before the child in the manger, with Mary and Joseph beside him.
- Original: 1646, oil on canvas with a round-arched top, 97 x 71.3 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
- Ours: painted by hand in oil on canvas, in 6 portrait sizes from 92 x 127 to 166 x 230 cm or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: for Christmas, order at least two months ahead.
