Adoration of the Shepherds
by LOTTO, Lorenzo, Oil on canvas, 147 x 166 cm
This devotional image was probably painted for the wall of a private palace. The family resemblance between the physiognomically particularized shepherds suggests that they constitute donor portraits of brothers.
The painting is signed but not dated. It is close stylistically to the Annunciation in Recanati and is usually dated to 1527-28. However, recently a later date (c. 1534) was proposed for both paintings.