Valencian school; 18th century."Adoration of the Shepherds".Oil on copper.It has repainting.Measurements: 26 x 34 cm.This canvas represents a classic theme in the History of Art, that of the shepherds adoring the newborn Baby Jesus in the Bethlehem's portal. It is a scene that lends itself to being interpreted as a large composition with numerous characters, worked in a costumbrista style, which is why it was very much to the taste of Baroque painters, who sought above all a natural and close art, which would move the spirit of the faithful and make them feel close to what was represented on the canvas, to the sacred story. Thus, the divine elements are reduced to a minimum, with only a Glory breaking in the upper part, with two child angels attending the event.Formally, the scene is in keeping with academicism, and therefore follows classical rules, the first of which is its high technical quality. Thus, the drawing is rigorous and firm, with great anatomical perfection. Academicism is a direct legacy of classicism, hence the predilection for themes such as the one we present here, taken from mythology, although captured from a sensual and decorative point of view far removed from the solemnity of ancient classical art. This also explains his approach to the subject. However, we can appreciate an ideal of beauty that does not start from reality, although the painter's study of nature is undeniable, but rather an idealism based on reality through his sum of experience, that is to say, an aesthetic sublimation that reflects a beauty that transcends reality. The Valencian school is different from other contemporary Spanish artistic centres, thanks to the fact that during most of the 15th and 16th centuries there was an important settlement of Italian and Flemish painters. Thus, throughout the history of art, Valencia has been an important focus of Spanish art, together with other schools such as Andalusia and Madrid. In Valencia, the change from the 17th to the 18th century was not a break with the previous tradition, but a continuation of it. In 1768, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos was created, and this institution would determine a change towards a Baroque-rooted classicism. Through it, young artists were trained by José Vergara, Manuel Monfort, José Camarón, Vicente Marzo, Vicente López and Mariano Salvador Maella. On the other hand, economic recovery led to a thriving industrial and commercial bourgeoisie, which sought to distinguish itself socially through artistic patronage. At the same time, the Church gradually lost its monopoly as the only client of artists. All this led to a definite change in taste and also in the genres treated: religious painting now coexisted with bourgeois portraiture, still life, landscape, historical and mythological themes and genre painting.