Though the identity of the so-called Master of the Annunciation to the Shepherds remains an open question, it is clear from the works assigned to this hand that the artist was of the highest calibre. Working in Naples in the second quarter of the seventeenth century, exhibiting strong affinities with both Ribera and Velázquez, the master’s works include several figure studies, some mythological subjects, and a number of versions of the Annunciation to the Shepherds, hence his sobriquet.
The artist was first identified in the eponymous picture in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, a work once given to Velázquez whose attribution was questioned by August Mayer in 1923 (see A. Mayer, Jusepe de Ribera, Leipzig, 1923). It was not, however, until 1958 that Ferdinando Bologna suggested naming the anonymous master after the Birmingham picture (see F. Bologna, Francesco Solimena, Naples, 1958).
In the years since, the artist’s oeuvre has been substantially expanded, and several hypotheses have been put forward concerning his identity. He has been identified with Bartolomeo Passante, or Bassante (1618–1648), a documented artist with a signed picture in the Museo del Prado in Madrid (ibid., and N. Spinosa, ‘Qualche aggiunta e alcune precisazioni per il Maestro dell'Annuncio ai pastori’, in Scritti di storia dell'arte in onore di Raffaello Causa, Naples, 1988, pp. 181–88), though this work has since been eliminated from the oeuvre of the Master. More recently it has been hypothesised that the Master should be identified with Juan (or Giovanni) Dò, originally from Valencia, but known to be working in Naples in the 1620s (R. Causa, ‘La Pittura del Seicento a Napoli dal Naturalismo al Barocco’, Storia di Napoli, V/II, 1972 and G. De Vito, ‘Variazioni sul nome del Maestro dell’Annuncio ai pastori’ in Ricerche sul 600 napoletano. Saggi e ricerche per la storia dell'arte 1996, Naples, 1997, pp. 7–62).
Others, meanwhile, have instead discerned a Genoese influence in the master’s handling of paint, as well as drawing comparisons with Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione’s treatment of animals. It moreover remains uncertain whether, despite his working in Naples, the artist was of Spanish or Italian origin. (The most recent summary of these debates may be found in N. Spinosa, Pittura del seicento a Napoli: da Caravaggio a Massimo Stanzione, Naples, 2010, pp. 326–28.)
