Adoration Of The Shepherds. Carved And Polychrome Wood. Colonial School, 18th Century.

Adoration of the Shepherds. Carved and polychrome wood. Colonial school (probably Viceroyalty of Peru), 18th century.
Fragment of a carved, polychrome, and gilded wooden altarpiece depicting a figurative scene in a rectangular space surmounted by a semicircular arch. In the upper section, angels emerge from clouds, holding a scroll on which part of the original text is still visible; below, a red roof partially covers vertical structures of classical influence. In the lower section, four shepherds are depicted with a donkey and an ox. The Christ Child is placed in the center (note that the halo resembles a cradle, or vice versa), with the Virgin Mary and Saint John at his sides, their hands clasped in prayer. Iconographically, this is clearly the Adoration of the Shepherds. In sculpture, the Viceroyalty School of Peru is considered to have emerged with the creation of the viceroyalty in 1542 (and to have disappeared in the 19th century). As was often the case, it owed much to the influence of Spanish art (particularly the Sevillian school) in its early stages, before acquiring a strong identity of its own through the work of indigenous masters, religious orders, and other figures. The main artistic centers were often Lima (the capital of the viceroyalty), Quito, and Cusco (from the second half of the 17th century onward, this region would become primarily known for its clothed religious images).
Dimensions: 63 x 7 x 140 cm