Adoration of the Shepherds c. 1690 - 1691

Curator: What strikes you most about this piece? To me, Giordano's "Adoration of the Shepherds", painted circa 1690, reveals itself primarily through its masterful deployment of light. Editor: It’s like a hazy dream, isn't it? This artwork throws you headfirst into that hazy, unbelievable space between sleep and wakefulness, you know, when reality bends and cherubs flutter around the corners of your mind. Curator: Indeed. Consider how Giordano constructs a visual hierarchy using luminosity. The infant Christ acts as the epicenter, with radiance diffusing outwards to highlight the Virgin, before gradually diminishing into the shadowy corners occupied by the shepherds. The brushstrokes, too, function dynamically. Editor: Right, right, you see how everyone’s caught in this silent awe? It's almost unnerving. There's this raw human element mingling with this overwhelmingly celestial presence. A beautiful collision, in my opinion. Makes you think what were they REALLY feeling? Pure bliss or just plain disbelief? Curator: One could argue it presents a meticulously crafted study in tenebrism, further underscored by Giordano’s Baroque style and rich pigment application in the angels robes and facial expressions, further conveying spiritual and human reactions with considerable drama. Editor: All these fancy art terms, hahaha! Seriously though. All the players are under the spot light of destiny or something. A tender spotlight it might be, or a scary one – a moment where a simple family bumps up with the vast, epic theatre of divine. The ordinary turned truly, spectacularly, otherworldly. Curator: Precisely. By meticulously structuring tonal gradations, and simultaneously manipulating the scale of spiritual significance with dramatic Baroque sensibilities, Giordano provokes thought about faith, class, and power relations inherent within this iconic narrative. It makes for fascinating study. Editor: Fascinating, yeah. I dig deeper that Giordano did paint one very dreamy depiction, an open invite to consider divinity playing tag inside humdrum humanity. So the magic it brings it has roots deep within you – and in my eyes – you can’t put a price tag on it, you just take your time.