ID: 700007303 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700007303	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1 2

The Annunciation to the Shepherds (illumination (painting); Master of the Houghton Miniatures (Flemish, active about 147...; late 1470s - about 1480; J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los A...; 95.ML.53.recto)

Note: Illuminated by the bright light of a graceful angel above, shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem shield their eyes as they kneel in homage. The angel announces the birth of Jesus, but the impassive faces of the peasants show that they do not yet grasp the importance of the message. Using a muted palette of blues and gold, the Master of the Houghton Miniatures evoked the stillness and beauty of a nocturnal landscape. The scene is lit only by the glow of the angel high in the sky, by a diminutive ballet of gilded angels gliding down toward the manger in the stable beyond, and by the light within the stable itself. In this miniature the shepherds have the coarse and rugged features of the peasants seen in paintings by the Flemish artist Hugo van der Goes. Their richly modeled and precisely contoured faces have no equal in Flemish manuscript illumination. The artist's achievement in naturalism is all the more remarkable considering the very small format of the miniature. The miniature probably came from an elaborate illuminated book of hours that is now in the Houghton Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Titles:

The Annunciation to the Shepherds (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,U)

Miniature from the Emerson-White Hours (C,U,English,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

illumination (painting) [300264522] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>, paintings (visual works), <paintings by location or context>)

detached leaf [300379890]

..... (Objects Facet, Components (hierarchy name), components (objects parts), <components by specific context>, information form components, gathered matter components, leaves (gathered matter))

Classifications:

manuscripts (preferred)

Creation Date: late 1470s - about 1480

Creator Display:

Master of the Houghton Miniatures (Flemish, active about 1476 - 1480) (Flemish Illuminator) [preferred,JPGM]

Master of the Houghton Miniatures (Flemish illuminator, active ca. 1476-1480) Qualifier: undetermined Extent: undetermined [500355324]

Locations:

Current: J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles, Los Angeles county, California, United States) [500329598] J. Paul Getty Museum, J. Paul Getty Trust, Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 95.ML.53.recto

Other: Creation: Gent [7007887] East Flanders (province), Flanders (region (administrative division)), Belgium (nation), Europe (continent), World (facet) (Geographic)

Display Materials: Tempera colors and gold paint on parchment

	tempera [300015062]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>, water-base paint)

	gilt paint [300343596]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>, metallic paint)

	parchment (animal material) [300011851]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, animal material, processed animal material)

Dimensions: Leaf [cutting]: 12.5 x 9 cm (4 15/16 x 3 9/16 in.)

Cultures:

Flemish (preferred)

General Subject:

religion and mythology (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	Annunciation to the Shepherds [901000232]
	.....((Legend of the Nativity of Christ, Life of Jesus Christ, New Testament narratives, Christian iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

	angels (spirits) [300379004]
	.....(Agents Facet, People (hierarchy name), people (agents), <people by occupation>, <people in the humanities>, <people in religion and related occupations>, people in religion, spirits (beings)) (AAT)

	dog (species) [300250130]
	.....(Agents Facet, Living Organisms (hierarchy name), living organisms (entities), Eukaryota (domain), Animalia (kingdom), Chordata (phylum), Vertebrata (subphylum), Mammalia (class), Carnivora (order), Canidae (family), Canis (genus)) (AAT)

	sheep (genus) [300250284]
	.....(Agents Facet, Living Organisms (hierarchy name), living organisms (entities), Eukaryota (domain), Animalia (kingdom), Chordata (phylum), Vertebrata (subphylum), Mammalia (class), Artiodactyla (order), Bovidae (family)) (AAT)

	shepherds [300025617]
	.....(Agents Facet, People (hierarchy name), people (agents), <people by occupation>, <people in agriculture or natural resource occupations>, <people in agriculture>, herdsmen) (AAT)

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

............... Cutting from the Emerson-White Hours

Sources and Contributors:
The Annunciation to the Shepherds	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)
Miniature from the Emerson-White Hours	........ [JPGM,VP]
	........ J. Paul Getty Museum database for collections (2000-)

Subject: ....... [JPGM,VP]

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... J. Paul Getty Museum, collections online (2000-)