Adoration of the Shepherds (Adoration of the Child by Mary, St Joseph and Shepherds)

Tommaso Lunetti created this work around 1520 during the High Renaissance period. The painting reflects the artistic traditions and cultural preoccupations of its time and place of origin. The painting is in the National Museum in Kraków. The tempera-on-panel medium required a carefully gessoed surface and was painted in fine, precise layers, yielding a luminous, jewel-like surface of great durability.

The painting demonstrates the technical conventions and artistic vocabulary of the period, with attention to composition, color, and the rendering of form appropriate to the subject.