Kneeling Shepherd
Luca Giordano
Description
Gallery Rotation Winter 2013
Attributed to
Luca Giordano
Italy, 1634–1705
Kneeling Shepherd
1650–1700
Graphite and pen and ink
Gift of the Joseph F. McCrindle Collection, 2009/1.501
In old master art, drawings and sketches provided an opportunity for experimentation. The quick, fluid, and dark lines used to articulate the forms and setting in A Group of Peasants Eating emphasize the horizontal thrust of the composition and imply movement in the figures. In Kneeling Shepherd the dark and deliberate line of the drawing that defines the forms of the figure and recumbent lamb traces over what was loosely sketched in graphite. Increasingly in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italy, simple scenes such as these, inspired by everyday life, would have been incorporated into larger religious paintings, adding a rustic genre appeal. The context of a religious image also elevated the status of such humble subjects.
Subject Matter:
This quick sketch, consisting of rapid pen strokes on top of lightly drawn graphite lines, suggests that this was a quickly observed scene that the artist wished to quickly capture for future use, perhaps in an Adoration of the Shepherds or Nativity scene.
Physical Description:
A man in humble attire, shown in three-quarter view, is seen kneeling at the left side of the image; his hands are clasped in front of him in prayer. At the lower right is a sleeping lamb nestled into a schematically rendered background.
Usage Rights:
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