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The Adoration of the Shepherds by El Greco, c. 1605–1610, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Adoration of the Shepherds

The Adoration of the Shepherds

El Greco (Greek–Spanish, 1541–1614)

c. 1605–1610 · Oil on canvas · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

For Christmas · 25 December

Sizes

image 6.2×10 in on a 8×10 in sheet

What is dpi?

Dots per inch: how many pixels of the museum’s file go into each inch of paper. Our floor is 240 for sheets up to 20 inches, 180 up to 36 inches and 120 beyond, because a larger print is seen from further away. We never offer a sheet below the floor, and the number on each size is the one you receive.

Hahnemühle Photo Rag, 308 gsm cotton rag · pigment inks · printed to order

Printed to order · the whole painting, never cropped · if it arrives damaged, we replace it

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About this painting

The light of this night comes from the Child. The cloth is drawn back from Him, and the brightness He gives goes out to the shepherds' faces; one kneels with bare feet on the ground, and a white lamb lies on the floor. The Met names Him the source that lights them. The Grey Art Museum reads the shepherds' strained postures as unending adoration, and sees in the scene the elevation of the Host at Mass: the true body, born of the Virgin. At least eight versions of this night stood in El Greco's studio when he died in 1614, the Met records. Above, angels unroll a banner over Him.

Sources: Christ-child as literal light source illuminating the shepherds; figures 'woven tightly together' for viewer engagement · Second light near cave mouth read as the Holy Spirit; shepherds' unnatural poses read as unending adoration; composition echoes elevation of the Host at Mass · Museo Nacional del Prado, collection record, 'The Adoration of the Shepherds', El Greco (P02988)

And they came with haste: and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.

Luke 2:16 · Douay-Rheims (Challoner)

Pray with this every day  ›
The Record
Date c. 1605–1610
Collection The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Subject Adoration of the Shepherds
Season Christmas
Master 7,365 px
License PD/CC0
Attribution The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · 05.42

The original, as its museum records it

Artist El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (Greek, Iráklion (Candia) 1541–1614 Toledo)
Date ca. 1605–10
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 56 7/8 x 39 7/8 in. (144.5 x 101.3 cm); with added strips 64 1/2 x 42 in. (163.8 x 106.7 cm)
Holding The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · 05.42

Every line above is reproduced from the holding institution’s own catalogue entry, which is linked. Where their title, date or attribution differs from ours, theirs is the one printed here.

The file this print is made from

Source El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) - The Adoration of the Shepherds (ca. 1605–10) - Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg
Master 7,365 px on the long edge
Rights PD/CC0 — the photograph as well as the painting
At a glance
ArtistEl Greco (Greek–Spanish, 1541–1614)
Datec. 1605–1610
MuseumThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Accession05.42
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions56 7/8 x 39 7/8 in. (144.5 x 101.3 cm); with added strips 64 1/2 x 42 in. (163.8 x 106.7 cm)
Sheet sizes8×10 in, 11×14 in, 16×20 in, 18×24 in, 24×36 in
Provenance of the file
Held byThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · 05.42 the museum’s record
Source fileWikimedia Commons · El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) - The Adoration of the Shepherds (ca. 1605–10) - Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg
LicencePublic domain
Master4,571 × 7,365 px, the file our printer receives
ChainTaken from Wikimedia Commons; held as our print master.

The sheets

8×10 in sheet 8×10 in · image 6.2×10 in · archival margin · 736 dpi
11×14 in sheet 11×14 in · image 8.7×14 in · archival margin · 526 dpi
16×20 in sheet 16×20 in · image 12.4×20 in · archival margin · 368 dpi
18×24 in sheet 18×24 in · image 14.9×24 in · archival margin · 307 dpi
24×36 in sheet 24×36 in · image 22.3×36 in · archival margin · 205 dpi

Printed on demand. Public-domain masterwork, reproduced from a 7,365 px master of the original. The whole image is printed — never cropped to fit the sheet — so every sheet carries an archival margin, and the dimensions and resolution listed above are the ones you receive.