Adoration of the Shepherds

Jordaens's 1615 Adoration of the Shepherds, held by the National Gallery of Athens, is a companion early work to the Adoration of the Magi from the same year. The shepherds — simple men called from the fields by the angel's announcement — contrasted with the wise Magi as representatives of humble faith against learned recognition. The subject allowed Jordaens to deploy the naturalistic, peasant types he favoured throughout his career: weathered faces, working hands, rough woolens. The National Gallery of Athens's holding reflects the wide geographic dispersal of Flemish Baroque painting through European collecting. At 22, Jordaens was already capable of organising a large devotional composition with confident group psychology, even if the handling still shows the careful finish of a recently trained painter.

The 1615 date places this among Jordaens's earliest surviving works, and comparison with the contemporary Adoration of the Magi reveals his approach to different social registers within the same devotional theme. The shepherds' rougher dress and faces require a coarser handling than the kings' exotic costumes — Jordaens differentiates the social groups through paint texture as well as costume. Strong torch or candlelight from within the stable creates the nocturnal intimacy appropriate to the Nativity.