id: 300708 accession number: 2017.107 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2017.107 updated: 2022-09-22 11:07:48.035000 The Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1552. Battista Franco (Italian, c. 1510–1561). Etching and engraving; platemark: 37.5 x 51 cm (14 3/4 x 20 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Alma Kroeger Fund 2017.107 title: The Adoration of the Shepherds title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1552 creation date earliest: 1547 creation date latest: 1557 current location: creditline: Alma Kroeger Fund copyright: --- culture: Italy technique: Etching and engraving department: Prints collection: PR - Engraving type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Bartsch XVI.121.8; Passavant VI, p. 178; Lauder 112, state II/IV --- CREATORS * Battista Franco (Italian, c. 1510–1561) - artist --- measurements: Platemark: 37.5 x 51 cm (14 3/4 x 20 1/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Watermark: anchor in circle (similar to Briquet 523 and 532) translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Recent Acquisitions opening date: 2018-03-17T04:00:00 Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 17-June 7, 2018). title: Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance opening date: 2019-10-13T04:00:00 Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2019-February 23, 2020). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * The Cleveland Museum of Art (03/17/2018-06/06/2018): "Recent Acquisitions 2014-2017" --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: Battista Franco was one of Michelangelo’s most devoted followers: his biographer Giorgio Vasari wrote that he drew every figure on the master’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. In Franco’s own works, such as this print, he made new, inventive compositions that emulated Michelangelo without directly copying or quoting his works.

The print depicts the group of shepherds who visited the Christ child shortly after his birth. Franco used twisting, active poses and emphasized anatomy and musculature, creating distinct groups of figures in the foreground and background. Guided by a host of angels, the shepherds’ twisting bodies, pointing gestures, and directional gazes—mirrored by those of an ass and a cow—offer witness to the miraculous birth. Groups of men conversing in the background offer a more intellectual approach to the miracle, while Joseph gazes calmly and contemplatively from the right. wall description: Battista Franco’s etching depicts a group of shepherds guided by a host of angels who visit the Virgin Mary and the Christ child. The shepherds’ twisting bodies, pointing gestures, and directional gazes—mirrored by those of a donkey and a cow—demonstrate an active response to the miraculous birth. A more contemplative spirituality is represented by men who converse in the background, and particularly by Joseph, who gazes meditatively at the Virgin and Child.

The background is populated with ancient ruins on the left and an Italian city on the right, suggesting that the narrative takes place simultaneously as a historical event in the distant past and as a spiritual event in the present-day lives of its viewers. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2017.107/2017.107_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2017.107/2017.107_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2017.107/2017.107_full.tif