The Adoration of the Shepherds

Hieronymus Francken II (attributed to) 1578 - 1623

Summary

This Adoration of the Shepherds has a hybrid setting: a ruined Corinthian column and a classical arch on the left are juxtaposed with the simple local architecture of a seventeenth-century Netherlandish village. The moon, veiled by clouds, illuminates the snow-covered landscape softly, while the scene in the foreground is brightly lit. In the centre, the Virgin gently pulls back a cover, allowing a shepherd and his wife and child a clear view of the Infant. The shepherd presents a bound sheep, whose inert, submissive body and fixed, sentient gaze presage Christ's own sacrifice. Joseph stands behind the Virgin, holding a lamp. The weather-beaten and mildly grotesque faces of the villagers, and homely details such as the trussed sheep and baskets of eggs, emphasise the humbleness of Christ's birth. It is not the grand, decayed architecture on the left, but the tiny spire of a local church, silvered by moonlight, that is the architectural focal point. Protected by arching trees and the surrounding houses, the diagonals of the bridge and the raised edge of the blanket pointing at it, the little church lies in a direct line with the Infant's haloed head. Hieronymus Francken II belonged to a large and successful family of artists based in Antwerp, whose similar styles and signatures, as well as their use of the same Christian names, means that attributing their work has always been problematical. Hieronymus II was the son of the painter Frans Francken I. He was named after his uncle, Hieronymus Francken I; his brother, Frans Francken II, is the best known and most talented of the family. Hieronymus II probably trained first with his father. He was apprenticed to his uncle, Hieronymus I, in 1605, became a master at the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1607 and apparently re-joined the studio of his uncle, who was by then in Paris, in 1609. Affinities in the style and figures of Frans II and Hieronymus II suggest that they perhaps trained in Paris with their uncle together for some time.