The Adoration of the Shepherds

In the pictureInside a dark barn crisscrossed with wooden beams, a swaddled infant lies while shepherds kneel or bend around him. On the right are a man holding a lantern and a dog, on the left a figure flinging out his arms as if startled, and more people look down from the beams at the back. Because the museum's image is black and white, only the contrast of light and dark remains.

BackgroundBecause the Adoration of the Shepherds took place at night, seventeenth-century Dutch painters liked to paint it as a night scene lit by a single candle or lantern. Dietrich revived this tradition in mid-eighteenth-century Dresden, and the rough timber, lantern light and humble figures in this picture are lessons learned from Rembrandt's prints. The photograph is black and white, but the original is in dark tones dominated by browns.

Puzzle tipBeing black and white, it can be solved only by light and dark. Assemble the bright swaddling cloth, the area around the lantern and the bright arms of the figure on the left first, then build up the upper structure with the straight beam pieces. The purely dark pieces get filled in last, so 48 pieces or fewer is recommended.