Annunciation to the shepherds
The annunciation to the shepherds is an episode in the Nativity of Jesus described in the Bible in Luke 2, in which angels tell a group of shepherds about the birth of Jesus. It is a common subject of Christian art and of Christmas carols.
This late 15th-century Flemish miniature shows the annunciation to the shepherds.
Rembrandt The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds, 1634
Abraham Bloemaert (Manner of) - Announcement to the shepherds c.1600
This 1663 painting by Abraham Hondius has a matching painting of the Adoration of the shepherds.
The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is documented in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judaea, that his mother, Mary, was engaged to a man named Joseph, who was descended from King David and was not his biological father, and that his birth was caused by divine intervention. Some scholars do not see the two canonical gospel nativity stories as historically factual since they present clashing accounts and irreconcilable genealogies. The secular history of the time does not synchronize with the narratives of the birth and early childhood of Jesus in the two gospels. Some view the question of historicity as secondary, given that gospels were primarily written as theological documents rather than chronological timelines.
Adoration of the Shepherds by Dutch painter Matthias Stomer, 1632
A page from the 11th-century Bamberg Apocalypse showing Matthew 1:21
Angel Gabriel's Annunciation to Mary, by Murillo, c. 1660
Altar in the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem