Follower of Pedro de Orrente

Follower of PEDRO DE ORRENTE (Murcia, 1580 - Valencia, 1645); XVII century.
"The adoration of the shepherds".
Oil on canvas.
It has a frame of the nineteenth century.
Measurements: 29 x 38 cm; 46 x 45 cm (frame).
This canvas represents a classic theme in the History of Art, that of the shepherds adoring the newborn baby Jesus in the portal of Bethlehem. It is a scene that lends itself to be interpreted as a large composition with numerous characters, worked in a costumbrista key, a feature that was very much to the taste of the Baroque painters, who sought above all a natural and close art, which moved the mood of the faithful and made them feel close to what was represented on the canvas, to the sacred story.
Known as "the Spanish Bassano", Pedro Orrente was an artist of great success in his time, admired as a follower of the formulas of the famous family of artists of Venice, especially in the realization of series of Old Testament themes set in lush landscapes. He lived in several Spanish cities, moving very young from his native Murcia to Toledo, where he was already in 1600. It is quite reasonable to think that he passed through the workshop of Leandro Bassano, whom Jusepe Martínez catalogued as his master. In 1607 he is already back in Spain, installed in Murcia. He continued to visit other Spanish cities, especially Toledo and Valencia, although he must have also spent time in Madrid. During his stay in Venice, he must not only have learned the pictorial manners of the Bassano family, but he would also assume their conception of painting as a market-oriented activity. In this sense, the treatment of sacred themes as genre scenes will be fundamental. These were, above all, lively series of biblical stories in which fans could be flattered by the variety and dynamism of the works, populated by a large number of characters set in landscapes, and accompanied by all kinds of animals and everyday objects.