The Adoration of the Shepherds (The Allendale Nativity)
1505–1510 · Oil on panel · National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
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This print
About this work
- Artist
- Giorgione (1478–1510)
- Year
- 1505–1510
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Original size
- 90.8 × 110.5 cm
- Collection
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- Movement
- Renaissance
Two shepherds kneel and bow before the Christ Child, who lies on a cloth at the mouth of a dark rocky grotto, watched by the Virgin in blue and Joseph in yellow; to the left a bright valley opens with a river, a village and blue hills, and tiny angels hover among the branches at the upper left. The museum dates the panel to 1505–1510. The attribution to Giorgione is now usual, though not universal, the main alternative being an early Titian; it gives its name to the Allendale group, a cluster of paintings including a Holy Family also in Washington and a predella panel in the National Gallery, London, which scholars tend to accept or reject together. The contrast between the shadowed cave and the luminous landscape is typical of Venetian painting of these years. It belonged to Cardinal Joseph Fesch in Rome, then passed in 1847 to the Beaumont family at Bretton Hall in Yorkshire, later Viscounts Allendale, whose name it keeps. It came to the National Gallery of Art in Washington with the Samuel H. Kress Collection.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
The Holy Family and kneeling shepherds before a dark grotto beside a sunlit blue valley, warm brown, blue and gold, for a living room, dining room or hallway at 24×18 in natural wood. A cream, sage or warm stone wall; it pairs with The Supper at Emmaus.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Renaissance painting
- Era
- 16th century (1505–1510)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- living room, dining room, hallway or entryway
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×18. Prints at 16×12, 24×18 in — 16×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×18 above a console or sideboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; natural wood lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Adoration of the Shepherds (The Allendale Nativity) in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Adoration of the Shepherds (The Allendale Nativity) painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
