Detail of The Adoration of the Shepherds by El Greco in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 2010

The Adoration of the Shepherds

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (Greek, Candia [Iráklion] 1540/41–1614 Toledo)

Date: ca. 1610

Medium: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 56 7/8 x 39 7/8 in. (144.5 x 101.3 cm); with added strips 64 1/2 x 42 in. (163.8 x 106.7 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1905

Accession Number: 05.42

Gallery Label:

Painted in about 1610, this picture repeats many of the features of a painting done for Juan de Ribera, patriarch of Antioch and archbishop of Valencia. El Greco often made replicas or variants of important compositions. Here the quality is actually higher than the prime version, though some workshop participation was involved (note, for example, the foreshortened hand of the pointing shepherd). X-rays show that in laying the composition some alterations were made: most significantly, the head of Joseph was first placed closer to the Virgin.

El Greco's late work is characterized by a tendency towards abstraction and an almost dance-like, restless movement, with gestures indicating excitement and wonder. Yet the placid, homely features of the ass are an example of the way El Greco anchors even his most imaginative flights of fancy in sober observation.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/1100...