The Adoration of the Shepherds
Relief
1675 (dated)
1675 (dated)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Joachim Henne (active 1663-1707) was a renowned ivory carver, who worked in Denmark and Northern Germany, specialising in small portrait reliefs and busts. He also executed figure groups, and relief depicting mythological scenes. Comparatively little is known of Henne’s life, including when and where he was born or died, or where he was trained. Although possibly from Jutland or North Germany, he may have trained in South Germany, in Ulm or Augsburg, and was active in Hamburg (1663-5), Gottorf (1665-7), and Copenhagen at the Court of King Frederick III, and then under that of Frederick’s successor, King Christian V, from 1667 until 1691. From 1702-7 he is recorded as court miniature painter at the Brandenburg Court in Berlin, and he is also known to have worked in wood.
The composition is derived from a print by the Netherlandish artist Crispijn van den Queborn (1604-1652) after Hendrik van Balen of Antwerp (1575-1632). An amber relief in the Museum's collection set into an amber and ivory altar is derived from the same source (inv. no. A.1-1950).
The composition is derived from a print by the Netherlandish artist Crispijn van den Queborn (1604-1652) after Hendrik van Balen of Antwerp (1575-1632). An amber relief in the Museum's collection set into an amber and ivory altar is derived from the same source (inv. no. A.1-1950).
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Adoration of the Shepherds (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Ivory |
| Brief description | Relief, ivory, The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Joachim Henne, German, 1675 |
| Physical description | Two shepherds (one in high relief on the left foreground, the other in low relief to the right of the ox and the ass) adore the Virgin and Child, along with three shepherdesses, one an older woman with a basket of eggs in the foreground, the other two standing in the background, one of these also carrying a basket and wearing a broad-brimmed hat. Angels hover above. St Joseph, having doffed his hat, sits on the right on a fallen classical column. A classical arch is visible in the left background, and two fluted classical columns are to be seen in the background. In the background through the arch the scene of the announcement to the shepherds is seen in low relief. The ivory is signed on the lower left, on a rock behind the leg of one of the shepherds: 'JH [elided] en/1675'. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | 'JH [elided] en/1675' (on the lower left, on a rock behind the leg of one of the shepherds) |
| Credit line | Given by Dr W. L. Hildburgh FSA |
| Object history | Given by Dr W.L. Hildburgh F.S.A. in 1949; formerly on loan from Dr Hildburgh. Historical significance: The composition is adapted from a print by Crispijn van den Queborn of The Hague after a work by the Flemish artist Hendrik van Balen (1575 - 1632). This is same engraved source as that used for the central relief on a large amber and ivory altar (A.1-1950). Henne produced this relief while at his time at the court of Copenhagen, and stylistic similarities can be seen with his mythological reliefs in Rosenborg. The fact that is dated implies however that it was made for a private client, rather than for the King, whose ivories were not generally dated. This might also explain why it left Denmark at a later date. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Joachim Henne (active 1663-1707) was a renowned ivory carver, who worked in Denmark and Northern Germany, specialising in small portrait reliefs and busts. He also executed figure groups, and relief depicting mythological scenes. Comparatively little is known of Henne’s life, including when and where he was born or died, or where he was trained. Although possibly from Jutland or North Germany, he may have trained in South Germany, in Ulm or Augsburg, and was active in Hamburg (1663-5), Gottorf (1665-7), and Copenhagen at the Court of King Frederick III, and then under that of Frederick’s successor, King Christian V, from 1667 until 1691. From 1702-7 he is recorded as court miniature painter at the Brandenburg Court in Berlin, and he is also known to have worked in wood. The composition is derived from a print by the Netherlandish artist Crispijn van den Queborn (1604-1652) after Hendrik van Balen of Antwerp (1575-1632). An amber relief in the Museum's collection set into an amber and ivory altar is derived from the same source (inv. no. A.1-1950). |
| Associated object | |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.48-1949 |
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| Record created | January 13, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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