Adoration of the Shepherds
Medium
oil on wood
Dimensions
unframed: 58 × 56.6 cm · framed: 86 × 85.5 × 4 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Holden Collection
Accession Number
1916.807
Tags
About this artwork
The artist has set Christ's birth in a ruined stable, witnessed by shepherds and angels. The candle Joseph holds symbolizes the supremacy of Christ's divine radiance over earthly light. Beyond the overgrown arch of the dilapidated structure an angel announces Christ's birth to shepherds in the field. Schäufelein based his picture on the Paumgartner Nativity, a painting (now preserved in Munich) by his teacher, Albrecht Dürer. Schäufelein was born in Nuremberg, probably studied under Wohlgemut, a...
About the Artist
Hans Leonhard Schäufelein (German)
**German, Franconia (active ca. 1485–1500)** was an anonymous artist from the Franconian region of northern Bavaria, Germany, renowned for his contributions to late Gothic graphic arts. Little is known of his early life or training, as details about many anonymous masters from this era remain undocumented. Franconia, with its vibrant artistic centers like Nuremberg, fostered a rich tradition of re...