Detail from Adoration of the Shepherds by Marinus, after a painting by Jacob Jordaens, 17th century. Dayton C. Miller Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

after a painting by Jacob Jordaens, history and portrait painter, draughtsman, watercolorist, and engraver, 1593-1678

This is a beautifully rendered engraving of the Holy Family. Saint Joseph, Mary and the Christ Child are at the left. Before them is a group of shepherds who stand or kneel before them reverently. One man offers Mary a bowl of milk for the Christ Child which he has poured from a vessel in his arms, while another man plays a duct flute, possibly a simple recorder. A young woman kneels with her hands folded in prayer, a boy holds a bowl with another offering, and an old woman stands at the right looking on the scene. The house is humble with crumbling walls. A shepherd's crook is against the doorway in the left background. A rooster is in a wicker cage at the right, apparently resting on the head of another figure hidden behind the post whose hand is visible just above the old woman. The light comes from a source outside the picture -- from the "viewer's space" on the right -- and it illuminates the faces and hands of the peasants and falls fully on Mary and the Christ Child. The light also creates the unusual shadow pattern in the center of the back wall -- the hidden person holding the wicker cage.

An engraving of an Adoration by Marinus was reproduced on the cover of Recorder & Music (1975), and it is listed in the Nicholas S. Lander Web site, Recorder Iconography.[1] Here is a translation of the inscription beneath the image: "Behold, he who feeds the citizens of Olympus with nectar and ambrosia / Is fed with food by a lowly shepherd. / Behold, the one whom the Senate of gods sings [celebrates] with heroic voice / Him, the rustic muse sings [celebrates] with graceful sound."[2]

About the Artists

Marinus, pseudonym of Marin Robin van der Goes, engraver, ca. 1599-1639
Though the name inscribed on this print reads "Mariuus," the engraver of this work was probably an artist who used the pseudonym, Marinus, whose biography is given in Bénézit. His full name was Marin Robin van der Goes. He was a Dutch artist, probably born in London in 1599, and who died in Antwerp in 1639. He studied with Lucas Vorsterman (1595-1675) in Antwerp in 1630 and, by 1632, he was a master. Marinus taught the following artists: Alexander Goubau, a 17th-century Flemish landscape painter and engraver; Antoon Coebergher, a 17th-century engraver and print dealer in Antwerp; and, Gaspard Leemans. Among the known engravings by Marinus are: Holy Family, after Jan van den Hoecke (1611-1651); Flight into Egypt, and Miracle of Saint Francis Xavier, both after Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640); Adoration of the shepherds, Christ before Caiaphas, and the Martyrdom of Saint Apollonia, all after Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678); The Joyous Peasants after Cornelis Saftleven (1607-1681); The Village Surgeon after Theodor van Thulden (1606-1669); and Drinking Peasants after Hendrick Maartensz Rokes, called Sorgh (1611-1670).

Jacob Jordaens, history and portrait painter, draughtsman, watercolorist, and engraver, 1593-1678
Jacob Jordaens was a well-known 17th-century Flemish artist who was born in and died in Antwerp. See Bénézit for long biography and list of his works.

Notes

1. The painting by Jordaens on which this print was based is also included in the same Web site. Regarding the painting, Nicholas Lander writes: "Adoration of the Shepherds, oil on canvas, 147.5 × 117.5 cm, Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678). London: Christie's, Important Old Master Pictures, 21 April 1989. Ref. Sale Catalogue, Christie's (1989: 91 - col.) A rustic nativity scene in a barn in which a shepherd serenades the holy family with a small, rough-hewn duct-flute (possibly a recorder)." See Recorder Iconography, under Jacob I Jordaens. [back to article]
2. This translation is courtesy of David Shive, Washington, DC, 13 June 2007. [back to article]