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Lot Essay
Born in Dordrecht to a family of painters, Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp is known for his genre and New Testament scenes. The Adoration of the Shepherds was a subject that must have been particularly dear to Cuyp, who painted it over thirty times.
As recounted in the Gospel of Luke (2:1-20), while a group of shepherds watch their flock at night, an angel appears to announce the Birth of Christ and proclaims that he will be “a child wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger”. The shepherds then part for Bethlehem to see upon their arrival what the Lord, through his angel, had revealed to them. It is this scene that Cuyp, faithful to Luke’s words, has depicted in the present lot.
In this painting, brown, beige, and red tones are largely predominant. The clouds with angels, the drapes that cover Christ, and the Madonna’s veil, are painted in a more luminous white that make them stand out against the almost monochromatic palette that characterises Cuyp’s works, hinting to their divine nature.
This work belonged to Walter P. Chrysler Jr., son of automotive industry pioneer Walter P. Chrysler (1875-1940), founder of Chrysler Corporation. It was exhibited several times as part of his collection, at The Artmobile and other travelling exhibitions that toured over ten American museums in the 1950s.
As recounted in the Gospel of Luke (2:1-20), while a group of shepherds watch their flock at night, an angel appears to announce the Birth of Christ and proclaims that he will be “a child wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger”. The shepherds then part for Bethlehem to see upon their arrival what the Lord, through his angel, had revealed to them. It is this scene that Cuyp, faithful to Luke’s words, has depicted in the present lot.
In this painting, brown, beige, and red tones are largely predominant. The clouds with angels, the drapes that cover Christ, and the Madonna’s veil, are painted in a more luminous white that make them stand out against the almost monochromatic palette that characterises Cuyp’s works, hinting to their divine nature.
This work belonged to Walter P. Chrysler Jr., son of automotive industry pioneer Walter P. Chrysler (1875-1940), founder of Chrysler Corporation. It was exhibited several times as part of his collection, at The Artmobile and other travelling exhibitions that toured over ten American museums in the 1950s.