The Chapel of the Enfants-Trouvés in Paris: L'Adoration des bergers
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Sheet (Trimmed): 21 in. × 10 11/16 in. (53.3 × 27.2 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1953
Accession Number
53.600.2412
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the heart of 18th-century Paris, the Chapel of the En-Trouvés—a hospice dedicated to caring for abandoned—Charles Joseph Natoire's painting *L'Adoration des berg* captured a tender moment from the Nativity story. Created around 1752 and masterfully translated into print by engraver Etienne Fessard this etching and engraving depicts shepherds adoring the Christ child, surrounded by women, children, dogs, and donkeys. scene's Rococo elegance, characteristic of Natoire's fluid and graceful figures, evokes warmth and humility, resonating deeply with the chapel's mission to shelter society's mos...