The announcement to the shepherds in the fields of the birth of the Messiah by the angel, traditionally Gabriel, is represented in Byzantine art but the scene of the adoration is not found until the end of the 15th century. The shepherds are grouped round the infant in reverential attitudes. They have doffed their hats and the nearest ones are kneeling. There are usually three of them and their gifts are appropriately rustic. Others stand behind playing pipes. Through a doorway there may be a glimpse of a distant hillside where an angel announces the birth to those watching their flocks. The shepherds' gifts are not mentioned by Luke and were probably invented by analogy with those of the magi. In earlier examples they may consist of a sheep with its feet bound (symbolizing the Christian sacrificial lamb), a shepherd's crook and pipes. The sheep is sometimes borne round the shoulders of a shepherd, after the image of the Good Shepherd. In 17th-century art they bring poultry, a jug of milk, a basket of eggs, etc. The pipes are usually the bagpipe and a syrinx. The idea of music on this occasion may derive not only from the pastoral tradition but, more specifically, from a custom in parts of Italy to play the pipes at Christmas before images of the Virgin and Child.

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James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, New York: Harper & Row, rev. ed. 1979