Art Institute of Chicago
The Adoration of the Shepherds
Gerrit van BattemLinkedCulture matchlcp-2f8134c1ba7d
- Date
- late 1650s
- Medium
- White and gray opaque watercolor and black ink on cream laid paper prepared with brown wash
- Culture
- Netherlands
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 185815
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
By preparing his paper with a dark-brown wash to which a white oil-based pigment was added, Gerrit van Battem achieved the strong and meaningful effect of light-dark contrast. In this Adoration scene Battem emphasized the wonder of the shepherds who come to greet the Christ child. Despite the scene’s nocturnal setting, so dark that the cow’s head in the background is barely visible, the divinity of the Christ child shines with an abundant brightness that causes the shepherds to raise their hands in amazement.
The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.
Get printable QR codesHide QR codes
Open QR codes for this object page and the museum record. They stay collapsed until needed.
Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection
- Provenance
- Possibly Louis Fabritius Dubourg (1693–1775), Amsterdam; sold, Amsterdam, Jan. 15, 1776, lot 82; Van den Brande (possibly Johan Pieter van den Brande (1707–1758)), Middelburg; by descent to E. C. Baron van Pallandt, Haarlem; sold, Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, Sept. 26, 1972, lot 275, to Mr. Saam Nijstad (1922–2011) and Mrs. Lily Nijstad-Einhorn, The Netherlands; sold, Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, May 19, 2004, lot 111, to Dorothy Braude Edinburg, Brookline, Mass.; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2013.
Linked open data
Authority identifiers that link this record into the wider web of cultural data — stable references you can follow to the source.
- Object type
- AAT300033973
Related across collections
Semantically similar works from Art Institute of Chicago and other institutions.