The ''Adoration of the Magi'' is a painting of 1633–34 by the Flemish Baroque artist

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

, made as an

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

for a convent in

Louvain Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...

. It is now in

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bui ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, in England. It measures .

History

It was painted in 1633–34 as an altarpiece for the chapel at the Convent of the White Nuns in Louvain, at that time in the

Spanish Netherlands Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Países Bajos Españoles; Dutch: Spaanse Nederlanden; French: Pays-Bas espagnols; German: Spanische Niederlande.) (historically in Spanish: ''Flandes'', the name "Flanders" was used as a ''pars pro toto'') was the Ha ...

and now in Belgium. A preparatory oil sketch for this painting is in the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along w ...

, London. It was engraved by

Hans Witdoeck Hans Witdoeck or Jan Witdoeck (Antwerp, baptized 8 December 1615 - probably Antwerp, after 1642) was a Flemish people, Flemish engraver, draughtsman and art dealer.

in 1638. The painting was sold after the 1780 suppression of convents, and came into the collection of

William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne William Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, (2 May 17377 May 1805; known as the Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history), was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first ...

in England in 1788. After his death it was sold in 1806 to Robert Grosvenor, 2nd Earl Grosvenor (later Marquess of Westminster) and descended through the Grosvenor family. The painting was sold from the estate of

Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, (familiarly " Bendor"; 19 March 1879 – 19 July 1953) was a British landowner and one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was the son of Victor Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the ...

at Sotheby's in 1959 and bought for a world-record price of £250,000 by the property millionaire

Alfred Ernest Allnatt Alfred E. Allnatt (19 February 1889 – 1969), known professionally as Major A.E. Allnatt, was an English businessman and art collector. He took over his father's supply business and developed it into Allnatt London Properties and other well-k ...

. Two years later he offered it to

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

. The college accepted "this munificent gift" with the intention of displaying the painting in the college chapel, possibly as an altarpiece. The painting was initially displayed in the college's antechapel, but the decision was taken to modify the east end of the main chapel so it could be installed as an altarpiece. The floor at the east end was lowered by removing the three steps leading up to the altar so the painting would not obscure the chapel's stained glass windows, and wooden fittings – oak panelling, and a communion rail and

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

installed in 1906 to designs by

Detmar Blow Detmar Jellings Blow (24 November 1867 – 7 February 1939) was a British architect of the early 20th century, who designed principally in the arts and crafts style. His clients belonged chiefly to the British aristocracy, and later he became es ...

were also removed. The changes remain controversial with criticism of the destruction of "irreplaceable features" causing "incalculable" damage to the building's spirituality, just so the painting would look good in television broadcasts of the chapel's annual

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols Nine Lessons and Carols, also known as the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, is a service of Christian worship traditionally celebrated on or near Christmas Eve. The story of the fall of humanity, the ...

. A wooden triptych frame was created for the painting, which included a new harlequin

grisaille Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...

, and Rubens' painting was installed at the east end of the chapel in 1968, where it remains. In June 1974 the painting was vandalised, with two-foot-high letters "IRA" scratched on it."Rubens ‘Adoration of Magi’ Defaced by ‘I.R.A.’ Scratch"
''New York Times'', June 16, 1974

Notes

{{ACArt Paintings by Peter Paul Rubens 1634 paintings

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

Paintings in Cambridge Vandalized works of art in the United Kingdom

History

See also

Notes