Circle of PETER PAUL RUBENS (Siegen, Germany, 1577 - Antwerp, Belgium, 1640). "Adoration of the shepherds". Oil on copper. Size: 74 x 56 cm; 83 x 67 cm (frame). The present work is a follower of the painting that Rubens, realized for the church of San Filippo in Fermo, in 1608 that at the moment is in the Gallery of Art Fermo Civic. There are certain differences in the figures, as well as in the postures. However, the characteristic gesture in Rubens' works, in which the Child is shown to his adorers, is preserved. In this case, the monumentality typical of Rubens' figures is preserved, especially in the female figure kneeling before the Child. In addition, the fineness of the faces and the delicacy of the forms stand out. Both for the dynamic composition of the scene, as for the anatomical conception of the figures, the piece is largely reminiscent of works by the artist Peter Paul Rubens. Peter Paul Rubens was a painter of the Flemish school who, however, competed on equal terms with contemporary Italian artists, and enjoyed a very important international importance, since his influence was also key in other schools, as is the case of the transition to full baroque in Spain. Although born in Westphalia, Rubens grew up in Antwerp, where his family originated. His mother, Maria Pypelincks, was a very important character in his life. She gave him a courtly and cultural education, which included the study of Latin and Greek, as well as the Bible. It was in fact his mother who put him in contact, while still very young, with the best painters of the time. Rubens had three teachers, the first being Tobias Verhaecht, a painter of precise and meticulous technique who had traveled to Italy, and who instilled in the young painter the first artistic rudiments. It is also possible that Rubens traveled to Italy influenced by this first master. The second was Adam van Noort, a Romanist painter also oriented towards the Italian influence, with a language still Mannerist, and who must also have influenced the young man to visit Italy. Finally, his third teacher was Otto van Veen, the most outstanding and the last of them. After his training, Rubens joined the Antwerp painters' guild in 1598. Only two years later he made a trip to Italy, where he stayed between 1600 and 1608.