Adoration Of The Shepherds – 17th Century Veronese School

Oil on gypsum alabaster – Verona 17th century, circle of Alessandro Turchi (1578 – 1649)
Our rare alabaster painting depicts one of the most represented subjects in Western art: the Adoration of the Shepherds, an episode of the Nativity of which it is the prologue. The Gospel according to Luke (2, 7) describes it thus: “Mary gave birth to a son and laid him in a manger because there was no room for her at the inn”… The composition of great gentleness brings the spectator into the intimacy of a scene where the people of the fields and the angels come to pay homage to the son of God on earth. The annunciation was made to them by the angel above them who holds up a phylactery on which one can read “Gloria in excelsis Deo”, an original Christian liturgical hymn to the glory of God. The painter wisely left reserves (unpainted areas) to depict the ruined wall that separates the stable from the countryside in the background. The exposed vein of the stone allows light to pass through the support, giving the whole a dreamlike character.
Painting on precious supports (paesine, agate, alabaster, jasper, lapis lazuli or even amethyst) spread throughout Italy for about a century. It was Sebastiano del Piombo, in 1530, who developed a technique for painting first on slate. This innovation seemed to respond to the obsession that artists felt about the lifespan of their works. Very quickly, painting on stone spread throughout Italy. Four major schools: Florence, Venice, Rome, and especially Verona, seemed to compete in audacity and imagination by painting on "imaged" stones. Painters thus rely on veins, contrasts or transparencies to create their decorations. From the 1580s, stone painting responded to the new attraction for singular objects and joined the cabinets of curiosities. The most illustrious figures in the discipline are Alessandro Turchi, Antonio Tempesta, Jacopo Bassano, Pasquale Ottino, and in France Jacques Stella.

Our alabaster plaque is set in a frame from the Marche region in carved wood with painted decoration imitating jasper and gilded, at the foot of which a label "Alessandro Turchi 1582 – 1648).
Dimensions: 30.5 x 25.5 cm - 42 x 37 cm with the frame
Like the vast majority of stone paintings, the plaque was fractured, the elements reassembled and glued back together.

Biography:
Alessandro Turchi, known as l'Orbetto (Verona 1578 – Rome 22.01.1649), was the son of a modest one-eyed clog maker ("orbo" in Italian), hence the nickname "l'Orbetto" attached to Alessandro. He began his training under the brushes of the Mannerist painter Felice Brusasorci. Around 1615, he settled in Rome where his talent was recognized. He participated in the decoration of the Quirinal Palace where he painted "the harvest of the manna" and "the dead Christ with Magdalene and the angels". In 1618, he was registered at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome and in 1634, he became its First Rector. With Pasquale Ottino, Alessandro Turchi was the leader of the Verona school for stone paintings. Among the many masterpieces left by the Orbetto are "The Flight into Egypt" at the Capodimonte in Naples, "The Death of Cleopatra and Mark Antony" at the Louvre, "Scenes from the Story of Hercules" at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich and "Venus and Adonis" at the Corsini Gallery in Florence.