Hugo van der Goes, Adorazione dei Pastori (Trittico Portinari)

Hugo van der Goes, The Adoration of the Shepherds (Portinari Triptych), 1477-1478, Oil on panel
The story surrounding the arrival in town of this work of art is truly engaging. The altarpiece, in fact, after an adventurous voyage by sea from Bruges in the Flanders to Pisa, was transported up the river Arno to Florence, where it arrived on May 28th, 1483. It was to be housed in the high altar of the Church of St. Egidio (St. Giles), a church that had been for many years under the patronage of the Portinari family.
The triptych, an Adoration of the Shepherds better known as the Portinari Triptych, was painted in Bruges by Hugo van der Goes, a famous Flemish artist, and commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, a resourceful man who was a banker and agent of the local branch of the Medici’s Banco. Not long after, his risky financial moves caused the bankruptcy of the Banco and his rift/break with the Medicis.
The northern artworks were already well known in Florence, collected mainly by private owners, but never before had Florentine seen a painting of this size, in which the characteristic features of the Flemish style appear with such stunning force. It was such a shock for Florentine artists, the revelation of a style destined to have great fortune to be imitated and not only to be admired. Let us attempt to understand why.
Jesus, in the central panel, is represented as the “light of the world”, illuminating those around him: Mary at the center, Saint Joseph on the left, the three shepherds on the right; no less than fifteen angels are standing in the foreground or hovering in the sky above.
The patrons, the entire Portinari family, are portrayed in the side panels: Tommaso and his sons are on the left with the patron saints; his wife, Maria Baroncelli with their daughter are on the right along with the patron saints Mary Magdalene in a white dress, and Margaret with a dragon beneath her feet. Note the hierarchical proportions of the figures, a medieval device still used in the Flanders. The scenes in the background, the Flight into Egypt to the Three King’s voyage, are closely connected to the main story.
That’s not all: go behind the triptych and you will discover a monochrome Annunciation scene in the closable external panels.
Many things strike us: the scale and depth of the scene, the number of details in the landscape that one never ceases to discover; the realism of the portraits, from the patrons of the work dressed in Flemish attire to the striking true-to-life aspect of the shepherds in their humble garb; the naturalistic embellishments, such as the splendid and symbolic still life with flowers in the foreground.
In this masterpiece, large and small, near and far, are equally important and minutely described. Light ties together the space: the scene is made even more realistic and limpid by the use of oil paints, a medium the Flemish artists were masters of.
Do not ignore the Three Kings travelling to Bethlehem in the panel on the right: the squire has dismounted from his horse to kindly ask for directions!