Bartolo di Fredi
The Adoration of the Shepherds
14th century
Tempera on wood
Information
provided
by the Metropolitan Museum, New York:
Bartolo di Fredi,
Italian
(Sienese), active 1353, died 1410
Italian; Made in Siena
Tempera on wood, gold ground, arched top ; Overall: 69 1/8 x 45 1/8 in. (175.6 x 114.6 cm); Painted surface: 63 1/4 x 45 1/8 in. (160.7 x 114.6 cm)
The Cloisters Collection, 1925 (25.120.288)
Italian; Made in Siena
Tempera on wood, gold ground, arched top ; Overall: 69 1/8 x 45 1/8 in. (175.6 x 114.6 cm); Painted surface: 63 1/4 x 45 1/8 in. (160.7 x 114.6 cm)
The Cloisters Collection, 1925 (25.120.288)
Once the central panel of an altarpiece, this painting simultaneously depicts the Adoration of the Christ Child and the Annunciation to the Shepherds, shown in the upper right. To create clear spatial relationships, the artist employed overlapping planes and daring, if naïve, perspective—most evident in the projecting roof of the stable. The setting of the narrative combines the Byzantine tradition of representing the Adoration in a cave with the Western iconography of a stable.
This panel may
have been
flanked by single panels depicting standing saints.
Provenance/Ownership History: This panel was the center of a triptych painted in 1374 for the convent of San Domenico, San Gimignano, Italy. ; Ex coll.: George Grey Barnard, New York
Provenance/Ownership History: This panel was the center of a triptych painted in 1374 for the convent of San Domenico, San Gimignano, Italy. ; Ex coll.: George Grey Barnard, New York
More of the Nativity
Photo: The Cloisters,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York