Italian school; circa 1840. "Annunciation of the Shepherds". Oil on canvas. Preserves its original canvas. It has a frame with slight faults. Measurements: 44,5 x 58,5 cm; 64 x 79 cm (frame). This biblical theme was specially treated from the Renaissance. It represents the apparition of Saint Gabriel to the shepherds at the Birth of the Child Jesus, an episode narrated in the Gospel of Luke. Here, the foreshortened bodies of the peasants have been skilfully modelled with light and line, creating chiaroscuro with cold reflections in contrast to the warmth of the garments and flesh tones. The angel bursts in with a break of glory, announcing the good news. The painting is one of the most authentic and personal examples of our art, because its conception and form of expression arose from the people and their deepest feelings. With the economy of the state in ruins, the nobility in decline and the clergy heavily taxed, it was the monasteries, parishes and confraternities of clerics and laymen who encouraged its development, and the works were sometimes financed by popular subscription. Painting was thus obliged to express the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when Counter-Reformation doctrine demanded a realistic language from art so that the faithful could understand and identify with what was depicted, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervour and devotion of the people. The religious theme was therefore the subject matter.