**Conservation of this painting was made possible by a generous contribution from Dena and Al Naylor.**
**The frame is a gift of the Douglas and Mary Olson Frame Acquisition Fund.**
This altarpiece came from the Krijtberg, a secret Catholic church in Amsterdam dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier. After Catholicism was banned in 1578, clandestine churches arose in canal houses around the city. Jesuits founded the Krijtberg in 1654 and hired artists from the Catholic southern Netherlands, like Jan Cossiers, to decorate it—experts in the Catholic religious imagery and dramatic baroque style developed to promote the Counter-Reformation.
In the darkness of night, Mary, Joseph and four shepherds gather in adoration around the infant Jesus, each figure portrayed with a distinct expression of piety. Angels float above in warm light, announcing the birth of Christ with music and a banner: “Glory [to God] in the highest, and on earth peace to men” (Luke 2:14). Cossiers painted the heavens with free, open brushwork that makes the angels appear weightless, while the rustic stable is described in exacting detail: the manger's coarse straw, the ox and donkey (who, according to legend, recognized the messiah), and the shepherds’ gifts of two chickens and a bound lamb (symbol of Christ’s sacrifice).
Acquired by the museum over 50 years ago, the painting was only displayed for a few weeks over the Christmas holiday of 1971. During the construction of the museum’s Tange wings in 1972-74, the painting was moved to storage, where it has remained since, due to condition issues. A major conservation project undertaken between 2024 and 2026 rectified the canvas’s many structural problems and removed centuries of dirt and grime.
Cossiers’ “Adoration of the Shepherds” was one of four altarpieces rotated on the high altar of the Krijtberg—a decorative system developed by the Jesuits in the 17th century and deployed frequently in the Netherlands (Xander van Eck, 1998). In some instances, such altars were fitted with pulley systems so that works could be rotated mechanically, and stored safely behind the high altar when not on display. The painting subjects seem to have followed the liturgical calendar and been rotated to align with special feast days.
The three other paintings that adorned the Krijtberg high altar are Erasmus Quellinus II, “Vision of Saint Francis Xavier, ” 1656 (Indianapolis Museum of Arts, Newfields, 72.84); P.N. Bosch, "Vision of Saint Ignatius at Storta, ” 1656 (location unknown); Jacob Jordaens, “Christ Carrying the Cross, ” c. 1655-60 (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, on loan to the Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, since 2004, SK-A-4923). The Jordaens, which is slightly smaller (242.7 cm x 175.5 cm) than the other three paintings, may not have originally been commissioned for the Krijtberg and only moved there later.
The Krijtberg’s high altar had an elaborate architectural frame that is no longer preserved but known from an 18th-century drawing by Adriaan de Lelie (1788, Gemeentearchief, Amsterdam; see Xander van Eck, 1998). The painted altarpiece was flanked by pairs of columns and surmounted by a large pediment which was populated with large figural sculptures representing God the Father, Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Ignatius, and Francis Borgia, along with angels and celestial elements.
The church was demolished in the 19th century, and a neo-Gothic church designed by Alfred Tepe was built in its place and completed in 1883. Most of the church’s contents were reportedly sold in Amsterdam in 1891. As the four altarpieces rotated on the high altar and had a frame that was part of the church architecture, Cossiers’ painting was likely sold without a frame. It entered Mia’s collection with a thin modern frame made of low-quality veneer. At the time of the 2026 conservation treatment this was replaced with a new reproduction of a period frame constructed by Peter Schade, London.
[R. McGarry, 2026]
Text: Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), CC BY 4.0.
