The Adoration of the Shepherds, plate three from The Birth and Early Life of Christ
Medium
Engraving on paper
Dimensions
Image: 46.4 × 35 cm (18 5/16 × 13 13/16 in.); Plate/sheet: 47.6 × 35.2 cm (18 3/4 × 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
80033
Art Historical Context
Behold *The Adoration of the Shepherds*, the third plate in Hendrick Goltzius's series *The Birth and Life of Christ* (4). This engraving captures the tender biblical moment when humble shepherds, guided by angels, gather around the newborn Jesus in the stable, offering gifts and awe-inspired worship. Goltzius, a leading Dutch artist of the Northern Mannerist style, draws from the Gospel of Luke to evoke humility and divine light amid rustic simplicity. Renowned for his virtuoso engraving technique, Goltzius incised intricate lines into a copper plate, creating swelling, muscular forms and dr...
About the Artist
Hendrick Goltzius · 1558–1617
Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617) was the most celebrated engraver of the Northern Renaissance and a pivotal figure in Dutch Mannerism. Born near the German-Dutch border, Goltzius transformed printmaking into a virtuoso art form through his revolutionary 'swelling line' technique, where the burin was manipulated to create lines of varying thickness that produced unprecedented tonal effects and three-d...