Adoration of the Shepherds
Francesco Fontebasso (Italian, 1707–1769)
c. 1750
View the original$19
Type
Size · in
Secure checkout · powered by Stripe
Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
Here Francesco Fontebasso depicted the biblical story of the birth of Christ, pairing three astonished shepherds, who surround the Virgin and Child at center, with four angelic putti hovering above the humble manger. Joseph kneels in the right foreground.
An independent work, not related to a painting, the drawing is densely layered. Different colors of ink and wash delineate the figures’ garments and the manger’s rough walls and capture the effects of celestial light.
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink and brush and black ink, with black and red ink washes, over black chalk, on ivory laid paper
- Original size
- 46.4 × 33.5 cm (18 5/16 × 13 1/4 in.)
Museum record · 6 owners · 4 exhibitions
Provenance
- Sold, Sotheby’s, London, Nov. 13, 1934, lot 50 (as School of Tiepolo).
- Duc de Talleyrand, Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt, by 1958.
- British Rail Pension Fund, probably by 1980.
- Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox, London, by 1991.
- Private collection, from 1991.
- Sold by W. M. Brady and Co., New York, to the Gray Collection Trust, Chicago, July 14, 2017; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2019.
Exhibitions
- Venice, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Disegni veneti di collezioni inglesi, 1980.
- Norwich, Castle Museum, Old Master Drawings from Venice, 1984–85.
- London, Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox, Italian Drawings, 1991; also New York, Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox, 1992.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Pure Drawing: Seven Centuries of Art from the Gray Collection", January 25 - May 10, 2020, GC 65, traveled to Berkeley, CA, August 4 - November 28, 2021.
