Adoration of the Shepherds (triptych)

This triptych, showing the Adoration of the Shepherds in the midst of a ruins and incorporating elements of Antique and Renaissance architecture, is one of only a few altarpieces in the Kunsthalle’s collection. On the central panel, the Virgin, two angels, and a shepherd kneel before the Christ Child, while Joseph, candle in hand, approaches from the stables. The Child does not lie in a manger, but instead upon a stone block redolent of an altar, thus referring to Christ’s later sacrificial death. The action extends to the wings in two figural groups—from the left, two shepherds, deep in conversation, rush to the scene and, from the right, an elder and a younger woman approach. These two women are most likely the midwives Zelomi and Salome who, according to the Byzantine pictorial tradition, attest to the truth of the virgin birth of Christ. The altarpiece belongs to a group of works originating from the circle of the workshop of Jan van Dornicke, the Master of 1518. Yet, the master from whose hand this triptych stems has yet to be identified conclusively. In 1527, Pieter Coecke van Aelst married van Dornicke’s daughter and was active in the elder man’s workshop, which he took over after his father-in-law’s death. The present altarpiece is, therefore, most likely one of van Dornicke’s late works.