Adoration of the Shepherds

Carlo Crivelli's Adoration of the Shepherds, painted around 1480 and now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg, depicts the humble shepherds worshipping the newborn Christ. Crivelli's treatment of the Nativity scene reflects his unique artistic personality—combining the emotional intensity of the subject with his characteristic decorative exuberance. After training in Venice and Padua, Crivelli spent his entire mature career in the Marche towns of Ascoli Piceno and Fermo.

Crivelli's technique features his distinctive sharp outlines, elaborate decorative detail in the stable setting, and the hyper-precise rendering of textures—straw, fabric, skin—that characterize his unmistakable personal style.