The Life of Christ before the Passion: The Youth of Christ

The paintings that Rubens devoted to the theme of the youth of Christ are among the most impressive and influential examples of art that expressed Roman Catholic spirituality as reasserted at the Council of Trent. The vast majority of these works are his numerous images of the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Adoration of the Magi. The oldest sources for these and other scenes from Christ's youth are of course the accounts of the Gospels, but these were usefully completed by several supplem…