Signed, upper right: Pierre

by 1749, Church of the Prieuré (Convent) des Bénédictines de la Ville l'Evèque (Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris, France)

1790, confiscated during the French Revolution. by 1795, stored at Dépôt des Petits-Augustins (warehouse) (Paris, France). September 15, 1797, sold by the Directory government (Paris, France)

September 15, 1797, purchased by "citoyen Albert." November 28, 1810, purchased by Cardinal Fesch, Archbishop of Lyons and uncle of Napoléon (Paris France)

gift to a convent (near Lyon, France). 1972, purchased by (Galerie Heim, Paris, France)

1976, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

"Salon de 1745." Collection des Livrets des Anciennes Expositions depuis 1673 jusqu'en 1800. Reprint by J. Guiffrey. Paris, 1869, p. 16, no. 62. Dézallier d'Argenville. Voyage Pittoresque de Paris. Paris, 1749, p. 210. [Note, in Dézallier's third edition of this, published 1757, the painting is cited on p. 166; also note, that Rosenberg, in his DIA Bulletin article, lists the 1749 page as 94] Catalogue of a Collection de tableaux des 3 Écoles, propres à la décoration des Chapelles où des Églises et sujets d'histoire. Exh. cat., Hôtel de Corberon. Paris, November 28, 1810, no. 30. [Lugt no. 7886.; Note that in the catalogue, the painting is erroneously listed as coming from the abbey of Saint-Denis.] Bellier & Auvray. Dictionnaire Général des Artistes de l'École Française. Paris, 1885, vol. 2, p. 269. "Inventaire Général des Richesses d'Art de la France." Archives du Musée des Monuments Français. Paris, 1886, vol. 2, p. 265, no. 445. [Note, that though this is published in 1886, the inventory discusses the painting's location in 1795] Bulletin of the DIA: Annual Report 56, 1 (1977): pp. 9, 11, 23, 27 (fig. 3). Halbout, M. and P. Rosenberg. "Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre's The Adoration of the Shepherds." Bulletin of the DIA 56, 3 (1978): pp. 169-176 (fig. 1). "La Chronique des Arts Principales Acquisitions des Musées en 1977." Gazette des Beaux-Arts, supplement 1310 (March 1978): p. 48, no. 213 (ill.). Schnapper, Antoine and Daniel Ternois. "Une vente de tableaux provenant des églises parisiennes en 1810." Bulletin de la Société de l'Histoire de l'Art Français (1978): pp. 122-123, 136-137. Hyde, Melissa and Mark Ledbury. Rethinking Boucher. Los Angeles, 2006, p. 289.

Jean Baptiste Marie Pierre, The Adoration of the Shepherds, 1745, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Elizabeth, Allan and Warren Shelden Fund in memory of Allan Shelden III, 76.145.