Adoration of the Shepherds, c. mid-16th century
Attributed to Michiel, the elder, Coxie (Flemish, 1499-1592)
Oil on oak panel;
12 x 9 1/2 in.
81.13.1
Gift of Mr. Vasek Polak
Donated to the Bowers Museum in 1967, this oil on panel painting is a fragment of a larger work likely depicting the biblical scene commonly referred to as the Adoration of the Shepherds. The Adoration was a popular subject of the period in Flanders, a Northern European region including parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The painting is reminiscent of the work of the court painter to Regent Maria of Austria, Bernard van Orley (1492-1542), but was likely painted by one of his students, Michiel Coxie (1499-1592), between 1550 and 1560.
Both van Orley and Coxie were part of a group of Northern European artists that painted in a style known as “Romanism,” which was heavily influenced by Italian Renaissance artists, particularly Michelangelo and Raphael. Coxie, himself was dubbed “the Flemish Raphael” and was a well-regarded painter whose works were commissioned and privately owned by kings and royal families of Europe. Coxie’s painted the human figure larger in scale and with more volume than his predecessors and his style is thought to be influential to the artist Peter Rubens. The composition of this particular painting is typically Flemish, and the color palette and stylistic elements suggest it was painted in Antwerp, Belgium.
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