The Adoration of the Shepherds

Executed as an etching, the image relies on precise incised lines to render contrasting textures: coarse cloth, smooth facial features, and finely detailed foliage. The artist manipulates light by carving openings that allow bright illumination to spill from the doorway, enhancing depth and emphasizing the central figures while the surrounding architecture provides structural rhythm.

Surviving copies are held in several European print collections, tracing the work’s circulation among collectors of religious prints during the Baroque period.

Mauperché, a French painter and engraver active in mid‑17th‑century Paris, was known for imaginative, capriccio landscapes that combined real and invented elements. This print, dated 1644, reflects his interest in merging architectural fantasy with narrative content. Surviving copies are held in several European print collections, tracing the work’s circulation among collectors of religious prints during the Baroque period.

The etching belongs to a broader tradition of devotional imagery that flourished in Catholic France after the Counter‑Reformation. By rendering a sacred story in a format accessible to a wider audience, Mauperché’s print aligns with contemporary efforts to disseminate religious themes through reproducible media, complementing painted altarpieces and illuminated manuscripts of the era.