Italian School, circa 1600

Anonymous sale, Cologne, Van Ham Kunstauktionen, 16 November 2007, lot 698 (as Adam Elsheimer);
Where acquired by the present owner.

This delicately rendered composition glistens on its copper support as two distinct light sources illuminate the scene: the flaming torch held aloft by an adoring shepherd and the radiant infant Christ himself. The artist drew on a variety of sources from both northern Europe and south of the Alps: the nocturnal setting derives from Adam Elsheimer; the robust and ruddy figures draw upon Jacopo Bassano; and the compositional division into two distinct registers evokes depictions of the subject by Pietro de Lignis.