Current knowledge
Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) 421
Giulio Romano
The Adoration of the Shepherds with Saint Longinus and Saint John the Evangelist
Current measurements:
275cm x 213cm
Date:
c.1535
This imposing work by the Gonzaga’s court painter Giulio Romano was acquired as part of the Mantua sale. Giulio’s Nativity occupies the focal point of the room and is central to the prevailing theme of conception and birth. It forms a religious counterpoint to Titian’s pagan Pardo Venus.
Van der Doort 1639
Giulio Romano
very large altarpiece of the Birth of Christ, with Longinus, spear in his left hand, 8 life-size, full-length figures, and far off on a hill 9 little shepherds and angels
Sale Inventory c.1649-51
Walpole Society reference (1972):