| Nativity (Adoration of the Shepherds) | |
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| Artist | Antonio da Correggio |
| Year | c. 1529–1530 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 256.5 cm × 188 cm (101.0 in × 74 in) |
| Location | Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden |
TheNativity (also known asThe Holy Night (or La Notte) or asAdoration of the Shepherds) is a painting finished around 1529–1530 by the Italian painterAntonio da Correggio. It is now in theGemäldegalerie Alte Meister,Dresden, Germany.
The work was commissioned from Correggio in October 1522 by Alberto Pratoneri for the family chapel in the church ofSan Prospero ofReggio Emilia: completed at the end of the decade, it was placed in the chapel in 1530. In a what was considered a minor sacrilege, the painting was absconded in 1640 by dukeFrancesco I d'Este and taken to his private gallery, it was moved to Dresden in 1746.
The artist, following the trail blazed by a number of celebrated works byTitian, interpreted a scene that is fully 'à la chandell' ("of the candle") and produced an outstanding result in theChiaroscuro treatment of light. The scene pivots around the Child, surrounded by Mary's arms, with a group of shepherds on the left, of which the bearded figure is portrayed in the same position of Jerome in theMadonna of St. Jerome (Correggio) (c. 1523). On the right are the traditionalpresepe animals and St. Joseph. The upper left part features several angels reminiscent the ardite positions in Correggio's dome of theCathedral of Parma, executed in the same years.
This work pointed the way toward the future Lombard investigation of luministic effects, and was used as a model by such painters asCamillo Procaccini,Luca Cambiasi,Guido Reni andDomenichino, and even later on, byBarocci andMaratta. A 1724 copy of the painting hangs in the chapel ofPalais Rohan, Strasbourg.
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