The Adoration of the Shepherds
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
21 5/8 x 28 3/4 in. (54.9 x 73 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, 1871
Accession Number
71.162
Tags
Art Historical Context
Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich's *The Adoration of the Shepherds*, in the 1760s, captures a timeless biblical scene from the Gospel of Luke: shepherds gathering to worship the newborn Christ child, attended by the Virgin Mary and animals like donkeys and dogs. This oil-on-canvas work, measuring 21⅝ × 28¾ inches, exemplifies the Rococo style for which Dietrich, a prominent German artist from Dresden, was known. His elegant, light-filled compositions often drew inspiration from 17th-century Dutch and Flemish masters, blending devotional piety with decorative grace. As a European painting acqu...
About the Artist
Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich · 1712–1774
Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich (1712–1774) was a German painter and etcher of considerable versatility, celebrated in his own time for a chameleonic ability to work convincingly in the manner of the great Dutch and Flemish masters of the preceding century. Born in Weimar, he received early training from his father and later studied under Alexander Thiele in Dresden, the city with which his caree...