Parable of the Good Shepherd

Philips Galle

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Pieter Bruegel the Elder created only one print himself (The Rabbit Hunt, acc. no. 25.2.11) but he was a prolific designer of prints that were engraved and etched by others. The artist's drawn design for this engraving by Philips Galle has not survived. The Parable of the Good Shepherd depicts Christ emerging from a cottage that is attacked on all sides by thieves. He is surrounded by sheep and carries one on his shoulders. He is depicted as the good shepherd who is willing to die to protect his flock. He contrasts with the faithless shepherd in the upper right who runs from the wolf who attacks his flock. The accompanying verses were penned by Hadrianus Junius, a doctor and humanist scholar.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art