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The
Adoration of the Shepherds
is an episode in the story of the
Nativity of Jesus
in which
shepherds
are near witnesses to
Jesus
's birth in
Bethlehem
. It is based on the account in the
Gospel of Luke
and follows the
Annunciation to the Shepherds
, in which the shepherds are summoned by an angel to the scene of the birth. Like the episode preceding it, the Adoration of the Shepherds is
a common subject in art
, where it is often combined with the
Adoration of the Magi
. Depictions of the shepherds' adoration of the
Christ Child
as a subject distinct from that of the
biblical Magi
began to appear around the 15th century in artworks and
altarpieces
in the
western Christian world
. The shepherds are sometimes shown presenting simpler gifts than those of the Magi, such as lambs. This
Adoration of the Shepherds
is an oil-on-canvas painting by
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
, a Spanish
Baroque artist
. Painted around 1650, the work is now in the
Museo del Prado
in
Madrid
.
Painting credit:
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
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