Adoration of the Shepherds

Domenico Theotocopoulos, called El Greco
(1541-1614)
oil on canvas
(118 x 107cm)

This small altarpiece seems to have been acquired as a Tintorett,an attribution explicable only in that it depicts a night scene. InNovember 1570, Giulio Clovio had recommended to Alessandro Farnese 'ayoung man from Candia....a disciple of Titian'. Giovanni Britto'swoodcut after Titian's Adoration of the Shepherds wasdoubtless in El Greco's mind when experimenting with the same theme;and the painting which is probably his earliest treatment of it(Modena, Galleria Estense) witnesses his attention to that print.There followed four treatments of an idiosyncratically mysticalcharacter, closely related to each other: a panel, formerly in Pariswith Carlo Briglio; a canvas, formerly in the Charles Brunnercollection; an exquisite copper, nearest in composition to theBoughton painting, which was acquired recently in New York for theSan Diego Museum of Art; and, finally, the largest version atBoughton. All four are datable c. 1574-5.

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