The Adoration of the Shepherds

The Adoration of the Shepherds

François Le Moyne

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this compositional drawing for an altarpiece, a dazzling array of marks and swirling lines expresses the awe that belies the quiet nativity scene. A soothing light, rendered with soft touches of white chalk, emanates from the newborn Christ Child.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Adoration of the ShepherdsThe Adoration of the ShepherdsThe Adoration of the ShepherdsThe Adoration of the ShepherdsThe Adoration of the Shepherds

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.