School of LUCA GIORDANO (Naples, 1634 - 1705). "Adoration of the Shepherds. Oil on canvas. Re-framed. It has a 20th century frame. Measurements: 82 x 61 cm; 104 x 81 cm (frame). This canvas represents a classic theme in the History of Art, that of the shepherds adoring the new-born baby Jesus in the Bethlehem`s portal. It is a scene that lends itself to being interpreted as a large composition with numerous characters, worked in a costumbrista style, and was therefore very much to the taste of Baroque painters, who sought above all a natural and intimate art that would move the faithful and make them feel close to what was represented on the canvas, to the sacred story. Thus, the divine elements are reduced to a minimum, with only a Glory break in the upper part, with two child angels attending the event. As is typical of the early Baroque, this heavenly space is clearly differentiated from the earthly one, a clear separation which, however, disappeared in the second Baroque. This work fits into the aesthetic patterns of the work of Luca Giordano, the most important Neapolitan painter of the late 17th century and one of the main representatives of the late Italian Baroque. A painter and engraver known in Spain as Lucas Jordán, Giordano enjoyed great popularity during his lifetime, both in his native Italy and in Spain. However, after his death his work was often criticised for its speed of execution, which was at odds with the Greco-Latin aesthetic. It is thought that he trained in the circle of Ribera, whose style he initially followed. However, he soon travelled to Rome and Venice, where he studied Veronese, whose influence is evident in his work. This trip was key to the maturing of his style, as were the influences of other artists such as Mattia Preti, Rubens, Bernini and, above all, Pietro da Cortona. In the late 1670s Giordano began his large-scale mural decorations (Montecassino and San Gregorio Armeno in Naples), followed from 1682 onwards by other projects, including the mural paintings in the gallery and library of the Palazzo Medici Ricardi in Florence. In 1692 he was called to Madrid to paint murals in the monastery of El Escorial, where he worked from 1692 to 1694. He then executed the paintings of the office and bedroom of Charles II in the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, and after these he undertook the paintings of the Casón del Buen Retiro (ca. 1697), the sacristy of Toledo cathedral (1698), the royal chapel of the Alcázar and San Antonio de los Portugueses (1699). However, royal commissions ceased with the arrival of Philip V in 1701 and the beginning of the War of the Spanish Succession, and Giordano returned to Naples in 1702, although he continued to send paintings to Spain from there. Today Giordano`s works are housed in the most important art galleries throughout the world, including the Prado, the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, the Metropolitan in New York and the National Gallery in London.