Focus on Adoration of the Shepherds (Domenichino) and explore the History.
The history of the painting before 1813 is unclear, and complicated by possible confusion with the lost model by Annibale Carracci. There is an engraving of the painting, described as being by Domenichino, which however omits certain details, suggesting it was made from a preparatory drawing also lacking these.  Domenichino is mentioned by Bellori and described as a copy of a Carracci, which Bellori probably had never seen and did not know the whereabouts of. Bellori, in his book of artists' biographies published in 1672, said the Domenichino had recently left Rome for France. A Nativity attributed to Annibale Carracci, which might be either the original or the copy, is recorded by André Félibien as being in the large collection of Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–83), the famous finance minister of Louis XIV.  According to Pierre-Jean Mariette the picture in the engraving belonged to the Orleans Collection, although it does not seem to appear in any of the inventories.  This collection had received a significant addition from Colbert's heir Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay.  Most of the paintings of the Orleans Collection were taken to London and dispersed during the French Revolution, but again this painting is not identifiable among the records of the sales and other transactions recording this process.The painting's history is certain after it appears in a list of 1813 of the paintings bequeathed to the College of God's Gift, the charity owning Dulwich College, a school in the London suburbs, by Sir Francis Bourgeois in 1811.  It was described as by Annibale Carracci here, and only finally confirmed as a Domenichino in 1906–7 by Hans Tietze, an attribution since accepted by all writers.  The Dulwich Picture Gallery was founded to hold the Bourgeois bequest and other artworks owned by the charity, and the painting hung there until it was controversially sold by the trustees in 1971.  It was sold at auction for £100,000 by Sotheby's London on 24 March 1971, and bought by the National Gallery of Scotland.  The sale was the subject of an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on May 13, 1971, where both the trustees and the minister whose consent had been necessary for the sale to occur were criticised by George Strauss M.P., especially for only publicising the sale three weeks before the auction.  For a month over Christmas and New Year 2011/12 the painting returned to Dulwich as part of the celebrations for the gallery's bicentenary.The picture is in good condition, but the blues in the robes of the Virgin and the shepherd standing at right, as well as the yellow of the boy holding the dove, have "been affected by chemical change".
Domenichino Louis XIV Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay Jean-Baptiste Colbert National Gallery of Scotland George Strauss Orleans Collection adjournment debate Dulwich College Francis Bourgeois House of Commons Annibale Carracci André Félibien College of God's Gift Pierre-Jean Mariette Sotheby's London left engraving French Revolution Dulwich Picture Gallery