We have already looked at a couple of works depicting the shepherds as they adored the Christ child while kneeling inside the stable. Much less frequently, the shepherds are shown standing outside the stable, looking into it. My name for this sub-genre is the "Arrival of the Shepherds," since it seems to depict them just as they have arrived but before they have entered the stable and knelt down in worship.
In the works below, as you will see, the shepherds are shown peering into the stable, catching sight for the first time of the baby they have come to see.
1: Nativity, 1445, by Dieric Bouts the Elder. This work has no animals. It does have angels within the stable, and shepherds outside, gazing in.
2: Nativity, c. 1480, by the Master of Moulins, a French artist. This work has two scenes, somewhat separated in time. There is an Annunciation to the Shepherds far in the background. The main scene shows a Nativity, with an ox but no ass; two angels within the stable; and shepherds gazing in. The man on the right is Jean Rolin, the cardinal of Autun, France (who probably commissioned the work). Notice the little white dog sitting on his robe!
3: Nativity, c. 1500, a leaf from an illuminated manuscript, by Simon Bening, a famous illuminator. This miniature has the ox and ass; angels above and angels within the stable; and two shepherds peering in from outside.
To me these are very appealing pictures. That is due, I think, to the combined humility and earnestness of the shepherds.
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