Adoration of the Magi

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4th century Sarcophagus, Vatican
4th century Sarcophagus, Vatican
Dirk Bouts 15th century
Dirk Bouts 15th century

The Adoration of the Magi is the name traditionally given to a Christian religious scene in which the three Magi, often represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh: in the church calendar, this event is commemorated as the Feast of the Epiphany. Christian iconography has considerably expanded the bare account of the Biblical Magi given in the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (2:1-11) and used it to press the point that Jesus was recognized, from his earliest infancy, as king of the earth.

In the earliest depictions, the Magi are shown wearing Persian dress of trousers and Phrygian caps, usually in profile, advancing in step with their gifts held out before them. These images use Late Antique poses for barbarians submitting to an Emperor, and presenting golden wreaths. The earliest are from catacomb paintings and sarcophagus reliefs of the 4th century. Crowns are first seen in the 10th century, mostly in the West, where their dress had by now lost any Oriental flavour in most cases. [1] Later Byzantine images often show small pill-box like hats, whose significance is disputed. They are usually shown as the same age until about this period, but then the idea of depicting the three ages of man is introduced: a particularly beautiful example is seen on the façade of the cathedral of Orvieto.

Occasionally from the 12th century, and very often in Northern Europe from the 15th, the Magi are also made to represent the three known parts of the world: Balthasar is very commonly cast as a young African or Moor, and old Caspar is given Oriental features or, more often, dress. From the 14th century onwards, large retinues are often shown, the gifts are contained in spectacular pieces of goldsmith work, and the Magi's clothes are given increasing attentention.[1] By the 15th century, the Adoration of the Magi is often a bravura piece in which the artist can display their handling of complex, crowded scenes involving horses and camels, but also their rendering of varied textures: the silk, fur, jewels and gold of the Kings set against the wood of the stable, the straw of Jesus's manger and the rough clothing of Joseph and the shepherds.

Adoration of the Magi by Bartolomé Estéban Murillo
Adoration of the Magi by Bartolomé Estéban Murillo

The scene often includes a fair diversity of animals as well: the ox and ass from the Nativity scene are usually there, but also the horses, camels, dogs, and falcons of the kings and their retinue, and sometimes other animals, such as birds in the rafters of the stable. From the 15th century onwards, the Adoration of the Magi is quite often conflated with the Adoration of the Shepherds from the account in the Gospel of Luke (2:8-20), an opportunity to bring in yet more human and animal diversity; in some compositions (triptychs for example), the two scenes are contrasted or set as pendants to the central scene, usually a Nativity.

The usefulness of the subject to the Church and the technical challenges involved in representing it have made the Adoration of the Magi a favorite subject of Christian art: chiefly painting, but also sculpture and even music (as in Gian-Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors).

[edit] Treatment by individual artists

Many hundreds of artists have treated the subject. A very partial list of the most celebrated follow, reading like a who's-who of painters: *Gentile da Fabriano's Adoration of the Magi, now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, is probably the most famous painting of the scene.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b G Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. I,1971 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London, pp100-114 & figs 245-298, ISBN 853312702

[edit] External link

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