Italian mannerist school; late seventeenth century. "Adoration of the Shepherds". Oil on copper. It

Italian Mannerist school; late 17th century.
"Adoration of the Shepherds".
Oil on copper.
It presents faults and restorations on the pictorial surface.
It conserves an 18th century frame.
Measurements: 49 x 65,5 cm; 60 x 75 cm (frame).
This work depicts a classic theme in the History of Art, that of the shepherds adoring the new-born baby Jesus in the Bethlehem portal. It is a scene that lends itself to being interpreted as a large composition with numerous characters, worked in a costumbrista style, which is why it was very much to the taste of Baroque painters, who sought above all a natural and close art that would move the spirit of the faithful and make them feel close to what was represented in the work, to the sacred story. In fact, it is remarkable that the author, in search of this emotion and empathy on the part of the faithful, presents us with an adoration of the shepherds and at the same time the image of a Virgin of the milk. The representation of the Virgin suckling the infant Jesus is mentioned by Pope Gregory the Great, a mosaic with this representation probably dating from the 12th century is found on the façade of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, although a few other examples from the early Middle Ages still survive. It is thought that this invocation may be a syncretism of the mother-goddesses, in particular the goddess Isis suckling Horus, and the earliest images probably appeared in Coptic art. The Milk Grotto is a place in Bethlehem, very close to the Basilica of the Nativity, where tradition says that the Virgin suckled the Child, and a drop spilled on a rock, which changed its colour, becoming white. Because of this, stones from the grotto (made of calcium carbonate) were considered relics in the early centuries because, when diluted in water, the water took on the appearance of milk. The shrine erected here is used by women who ask the Virgin to improve the quality of their breast milk. A theme in Christian hagiography linked to the nursing Virgin is that of Lactatio Bernardi, according to which the Virgin appeared in a dream to a monk and, by giving him some of her milk, bestowed upon him some miraculous gift.
This Adoration of the Shepherds is depicted in front of classical ruins sublimated with a palette of blues that reveal the scenographic taste of the Bolognese school of the Italian school. The figures are crowded together in the foreground around the Christ Child, who occupies a central position. The gestural emphasis and the costumes individualise each figure, giving them all personality. The influence of the Mannerist aesthetic can be seen in their characterisation and elegance of demeanour, as well as in the exquisite treatment of the drapery.