The Annunciation to the Shepherds
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem the Elder (1620-1683) was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and genre pieces. He was a member of the second generation of "Dutch Italianate landscape" painters.
The Gospel of Saint Luke recounts how an angel announced the news of Christ's birth to local shepherds. The shepherds stare in awe at the angel, although their animals remain placid. Above, a multitude of angels illuminate the landscape with heavenly light.
The impressive composition has been related to an 'Annunciation to the Shepherds' (about 1630) by Pieter van Laer. Although it is not known for certain that Nicolaes Berchem visited Italy, from the 1650s he worked in an exclusively Italianate style and became a leading exponent of the Dutch Italianates, artists who were inspired by the Italian landscape.