The Adoration of the Shepherds

This 1723 Adoration of the Shepherds in the Royal Collection was painted after Ricci's return from England, when his reputation as one of Europe's leading decorative painters was fully established. The Nativity scene, with the shepherds' arrival at the manger to witness the newborn Christ, was among the most frequently commissioned sacred subjects, offering painters the opportunity to combine dramatic night lighting with the tender intimacy of the holy family. Ricci's treatment brings his characteristically warm palette and fluid figure style to this devotional subject, the shepherds' reverential response to the divine infant conveyed through gesture and expression.

The nocturnal scene centers the divine light emanating from the Christ Child, Ricci rendering the surrounding shepherds and stable with warm, luminous color that demonstrates his characteristic fusion of Venetian tradition and Baroque drama.