Adoration of the Shepherds
1600–1605
Medium
Black and red chalk with traces of yellow chalk
Dimensions
8-1/6 x 8-1/2 in. (20.7 x 21.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1999
Accession Number
1999.167
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created around 1600–1605, this intimate chalk drawing captures the tender biblical moment when shepherds visit the newborn Christ. Hendrick Goltzius, one of the most celebrated Dutch draftsmen of his day, worked on the sheet with his stepson and frequent collaborator Jacob Matham. Together they distilled the familiar Nativity story into a compact, emotionally direct composition that emphasizes the humanity of the holy figures. Executed in black and red chalk with faint touches of yellow, the drawing reveals the artists’ mastery of colored chalks, a technique that allowed them to model form an...
About the Artist
Hendrick Goltzius|Jacob Matham · 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...