Adoration of the Shepherds

Schäufelein's Adoration of the Shepherds from around 1510 shows the Swabian painter working in the Dürer manner during the period when he was most directly under his master's influence. The composition reflects the German synthesis of Flemish spatial naturalism with Italian figure types that Dürer had worked out during his two Italian journeys, and Schäufelein's version shows how thoroughly this new approach had been absorbed by the Nuremberg workshop environment. The shepherds' rustic clothing and physical specificity — Schäufelein's figures have the lived-in character of Northern European peasant painting — contrast with the supernatural light illuminating the Christ child, creating the tension between earthly and divine that characterized Northern German sacred painting in the era of the Reformation's approach.

The oil on wood demonstrates the precise German Renaissance technique with detailed rendering of figures and landscape. The composition and lighting show Dürer's influence on the younger artist's approach to religious narrative.