Adoration Of The Shepherds

Genoese school, 17th century

Adoration of the shepherds

Oil on canvas, 49 x 35 cm

With frame, 53 x 39 cm

The adoration of the Magi described here canonically follows the iconography of the episode, inserting the characters and the typical setting of this sacred event. As regards the stylistic framework of the canvas, it can be traced back to the Genoese school of the 17th century which was able to excellently materialize the movements of mind and intimacy of religion. Supporters of an innovative academicism, free from any classicism but ready, despite the dictates of the Counter-Reformation, to internalize the most hidden mysticism through colours, the Genoese set a precedent thanks to the historical opening of the city port towards the international market. The new pro-Spanish turning point, which occurred in the previous century, allowed Genoa to place itself among the main European artistic centers: the Flemish experiences, including those of Rubens and Van Dick, the requests brought by foreign painters such as Domenico Beccafumi and Pietro Sorri from Siena and the Procaccini from Milan, and the advent of Caravaggio painting allowed a stylistic renewal that led to the birth of painters such as Bernardo Strozzi, Valerio Castello, Gioacchino Assereto, the Piola brothers and Grechetto. The mixes of multiple school styles, co-present in the city, led to the development of a multifaceted style, variable depending on the experiences and sensitivity of each artist in the school. It can be observed how multiple artistic factors already coexist in this work: a contrastive luminism, a rapid and dense application of colors, a fluid dynamism of shapes and a certain material sumptuousness. The crowding of the scene does not compromise its reading but rather enriches the environment with characters characterized with rapid touches that do not affect its expressiveness.