Adoration of the Shepherds, Nicolas Maes
Link is to zoomable version on Google Art Project; downloadable file on Wikimedia Commons; original is in the Getty Museum.
The Getty’s version of the image looks dark to me, as often seems to be the case with museums’ online representation of their collections. The Google Art Project version, and the Wikimedia Commons file of the same image, seem better.
Interestingly, 17th century painter Nicolaes Maes, a student of Rembrandt, has based his painting almost directly on a 16th century engraving by Albrecht Durer (see my previous post).
Things are arranged a little differently, and Maes has introduced the shepherds of the title, but most of the composition is taken from Durer’s piece — right down to the little bird on the signpost.
Like Durer, Maes has happily indulged in the representation of wood, brick, stone, trees, and the hilly landscape through the arch, as well as the play of light across the scene
