''Adoration of the Magi'' is an

oil on panel A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...

painting from the early 1520s by the

Dutch Renaissance The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders). Culture in the Low C ...

artist

Jan Mostaert Jan Mostaert (c. 1475 – 1552/1553) was a Dutch Renaissance painter who is known mainly for his religious subjects and portraits. One of his most famous creations was the ''Landscape with an Episode from the Conquest of America''. There are ve ...

in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, where in 2020 it was on display in room 0.1.Catalogue entry
on museum website The panel measures 51 cm × 36.5 cm (20 in × 14.4 in), and the painted surface a little less at 48.5 cm × 34 cm. It is often called the Mostaert Amsterdam ''Adoration'' in art history, to distinguish it from the multitude of other paintings of the

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

. Based on the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...

2:1–12, Mary sits with her child in the ruins of an elaborate palace to receive the gifts of the three Biblical Magi, whose retinues are seen in the background, with a fantasy landscape. The Christ child peers into

Melchior Melchior is the name traditionally given to one of the biblical Magi appearing in the Gospel of Matthew. There are many notable people with this name, or close variations. As a first name * Melchior Anderegg (1828–1914), Swiss mountain guide * ...

's goblet of

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...

, which is inscribed "AVE MARIA" ("Hail Mary") around the rim. To the left, Saint Joseph stands watching and talking with a well-dressed figure behind the main group, and the heads of the traditional ox and ass can be seen. Smaller scenes shown decorating the ruined architecture include three scenes from the Old Testament, and one from Christian legend. The Adoration of the Magi MET DP332733

Melchior appears to be a portrait of the unknown person who commissioned the painting, and the older Caspar may be another portrait. The relatively small size of the panel and intimacy of the central group suggest a painting commissioned for a private house rather than a donation to a church or other public setting.

Iconography

Many aspects of the iconography and composition of the painting are very similar to other Netherlandish depictions of this very popular subject from around this time, but some details are unusual. The Magi represent both the "three ages of man" and the

three continents 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

known to the medieval world. Melchior is traditionally shown as middle-aged and represents Asia; he is often specified as Persian. Most often it is Caspar, representing old age and Europe, whose moment of presentation of his gold is shown, but here presumably the donor's age suited a Melchior better. As usual, Balthazar, representing youth and Africa, is waiting his turn. Compositions showing the main figures at half-length, across the front of the image space, were an innovation of

Hugo van der Goes Hugo van der Goes (c. 1430/1440 – 1482) was one of the most significant and original Early Netherlandish painting, Flemish painters of the late 15th century. Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduce ...

late in the 15th century; two versions survive in early copies. They allow a closer and more intimate concentration on the main figures. Mostaert does not quite do this, and his vertical image format allows plenty of space above for the ruins, landscape, and retinues. However, he uses a smaller version of the table or ledge at the front centre. The stable of the account in the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-vol ...

had often evolved into a ruined palace in paintings of the Nativity and the subsequent scenes. This was held to represent the palace of King David, who was also born in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

, and also symbolized the dilapidated state of the

Old Covenant The Mosaic covenant (named after Moses), also known as the Sinaitic covenant (after the biblical Mount Sinai), refers to a covenant between God and the Israelites, including their proselytes, not limited to the ten commandments, nor the eve ...

. The two poorly dressed men in the mid-ground above Melchior's head probably represent the shepherds arriving at the scene, as do the similar figures in

Jan Gossaert Jan Gossaert (c. 1478 – 1 October 1532) was a French-speaking painter from the Low Countries also known as Jan Mabuse (the name he adopted from his birthplace, Maubeuge) or Jennyn van Hennegouwe ( Hainaut), as he called himself when he matri ...

's '' Adoration of the Kings'' (

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

). Both paintings show the ox and ass, but not prominently; they had only become usual in depictions of the ''Adoration of the Magi'' in the previous century. The costumes are mostly exotic versions of "modern" styles, and Mary's unusually rich dress has a "fashionable neckline", not to mention pearls hanging from the sleeve. The Magi dress richly, but without the extravagant exoticism found in many depictions by contemporary Antwerp Mannerists. Melchior wears a travelling cloak with a fashionable Spanish-style hood.

Small scenes

De aanbidding van de koningen Rijksmuseum SK-A-671 (cropped David)

It is common in Early Netherlandish painting to have small religious scenes shown as sculpted

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s in the background, to increase the depth of religious reference. But the choices of the four small scenes shown on the pillar and architrave just behind the main group, and above Mary and Jesus, are unusual in painting. On the architrave, with a red background, the left side has been identified as starting with the obscure and uncommon scene from of King David, when

was held by the

Philistines The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, whe ...

, refusing to drink the water that three men had drawn from a well at great risk to themselves:

15 David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" 16 So the three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the Lord. 17 "Far be it from me, Lord, to do this!" he said. "Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?" And David would not drink it. (
NIV Niv may refer to: * Niv, a personal name; for people with the name, see * Niv Art Movies, a film production company of India * Niv Art Centre, in New Delhi, India NIV may refer to: * The New International Version, a translation of the Bible into ...
)

This scene had sometimes been used in art as a typological prefiguration of the Adoration of the Magi, apparently based on the basic similarity of a visual composition of three men offering something to a royal figure regarded as an ancestor of Jesus, rather than any theological relationship. For example they appear in an altarpiece panel by Conrad Witz, and are carved in the frame of

Michael Pacher Michael Pacher ( 1435 – August 1498) was a painter and sculptor from Tyrol active during the second half of the fifteenth century. He was one of the earliest artists to introduce the principles of Renaissance painting into Germany. Pacher was a ...

's ''St. Wolfgang Altarpiece'' (St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, Austria, 1471–81). To the right of that, along the beam, is a horizontal version of the much better-known scene of the

Tree of Jesse The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a g ...

, from , which viewers of the period would easily have recognised. In the medieval Christian view, this illustrated the

genealogy of Jesus The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, but ...

. On the pillar there is the

Tiburtine Sibyl The Tiburtine Sibyl or Albunea was a Roman sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur (modern Tivoli). The mythic meeting of Cæsar Augustus with the Sibyl, of whom he inquired whether he should be worshiped as a god, was ofte ...

showing

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

a vision high above them, a well-known Christian legend. In the versions known to the later

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

the Emperor Augustus asked the

sibyl The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local tradi ...

whether he should be worshipped as a god, as the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

had ordered. She replied by showing him a vision of a young woman with a baby boy, high in the sky, while a voice from the heavens said "This is the virgin who shall conceive the saviour of the world". The episode was regarded as a prefiguration of the Magi's visit, and for example is paired with an ''Adoration of the Magi'' on the two side-wings of

Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...

's Bladelin Altarpiece (1460), now

Gemäldegalerie, Berlin The Gemäldegalerie (, ''Painting Gallery'') is an art museum in Berlin, Germany, and the museum where the main selection of paintings belonging to the Berlin State Museums (''Staatliche Museen zu Berlin'') is displayed. It was first opened in ...

De aanbidding van de koningen Rijksmuseum SK-A-671 (cropped)

Below this on the pillar is the dream of the butler (or "cupbearer") from the Old Testament story of

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

in . He sits in the stocks, to represent his imprisoned state, carries Pharaoh's cup, but "oddly" wears a crown himself.

9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, "In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand."

12 "This is what it means", Joseph said to him. "The three branches are three days. 13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer".

A typical medieval interpretation of the prefiguring relationship with the birth of Christ was that "the cup bearer symbolized humanity captive in sin, the vine symbolized Christ who would redeem mankind, and the grape juice prefigured the blood of Christ." All these scenes are found in various versions of the ''

Speculum humanae salvationis The ''Speculum Humanae Salvationis'' or ''Mirror of Human Salvation'' was a bestselling anonymous illustrated work of popular theology in the late Middle Ages, part of the genre of encyclopedic speculum literature, in this case concentrating on ...

'', an illustrated handbook of typological pairings, mostly between the Old and

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

s, which was highly popular in illuminated manuscript,

blockbook Block books or blockbooks, also called xylographica, are short books of up to 50 leaves, block printed in Europe in the second half of the 15th century as woodcuts with blocks carved to include both text (usually) and illustrations. The content ...

, and printed forms from the 14th to the early 16th centuries. Mostaert seems to have used a blockbook edition from some fifty years earlier as the basis of his compositions. Both a scene of Augustus and the Sibyl (in the background at left), and a vine relief pattern on a red background on a pillar appear in Mostaert's ''Portrait of the Knight Abel van Coustler'', probably of a similar date, and a very similar scene and background building are used in a female portrait in the

. A small painting of ''Joseph explaining the dreams of the Baker and Butler'', c, 1500, in the Mauritshuis is tentatively attributed to Mostaert. Each dream is illustrated on the wall above the dreamer. A ''Tree of Jesse'', hung near the Mostaert Adoration, has a complicated and disputed attribution, according to some scholars involving Mostaert, as well as

Geertgen tot Sint Jans Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1465 – c. 1495), also known as Geertgen van Haarlem, Gerrit van Haarlem, Gerrit Gerritsz, Gheertgen, Geerrit, Gheerrit, or any other diminutive form of Gerald, was an Early Netherlandish painter from the northern Lo ...

, who died in Haarlem in 1495, or his workshop or pupils. File:De aanbidding van de koningen Rijksmuseum SK-A-671 (croppedVision).jpeg,

and the

File:Speculum Darmstadt 2505 16v.jpg, The butler's dream paired with the Nativity in a manuscript ''

'', Rhineland, 1360s. File:Speculum Darmstadt 2505 19r.jpg, The "three mighty warriors" offer King David water, in the same manuscript File:Jan mostaert, ritratto del cavaliere abel van coustler, post 1512, 01.JPG, Mostaert's ''Portrait of the Knight Abel van Coustler'' File:Jan mostaert (attr.), giuseppe spiega il sogno del fornaio e del coppiere, 1500 ca.jpg, Mostaert (?), ''Joseph explaining the dreams of the Baker and Butler'', c, 1500, Mauritshuis File:De boom van Jesse Rijksmuseum SK-A-3901.jpeg, ''Tree of Jesse'', Rijksmuseum, possibly involving Mostaert, as well as

or his workshop or pupils

Technical

The painting is on a single oak panel, 1.3 cm thick. It is in good condition, and was restored in 2007.

Infrared reflectography Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

shows a detailed

underdrawing Underdrawing is a preparatory drawing done on a painting ground before paint is applied, for example, an imprimatura or an underpainting. Underdrawing was used extensively by 15th century painters like Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden. These ...

, to which various minor changes have been made during painting.

Provenance

The painting is documented as far back as the estate inventory of Anna van Renesse, Lady of

Assendelft Assendelft () is a town in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad. Assendelft was a separate municipality until 1974, when the municipality of Zaanstad was formed. However, Assendelft didn't wan ...

(1622–1667), at Assumburgh Castle near

Heemskerk Heemskerk () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located in the Kennemerland region. Local government As of March 2022, the municipal council of Heemskerk consists of 25 seats, which are divide ...

. This painting was purchased in 1879 from the heirs of the original owners through the mediation of Cornelis François Roos, the son of

Cornelis Sebille Roos Cornelis Sebille Roos or Cornelis Roos (1754 – 1820) was a Dutch art dealer and inspector of the Nationale Konst-Gallery collection in Huis ten Bosch during the years 1799-1801 Roos was born 10 January 1754 in Amsterdam and baptized six days lat ...

, and has been included in all ''Highlights of the Rijksmuseum'' catalogues since. File:De aanbidding van de koningen Rijksmuseum SK-A-671 (cropped 3 figs (cropped).jpeg, Jesus examining Melchior's gift File:Gerard David - Adoration of the Kings - Google Art Project.jpg,

Gerard David Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester ...

, '' Adoration of the Kings'', National Gallery, London, 1515–1523 File:Jan Gossaert 001.jpg,

, '' The Adoration of the Kings'', National Gallery, 1506–1516.Campbell, 32 File:De aanbidding van de koningen Rijksmuseum SK-A-671 (cropped left).jpeg, The left side: ox and ass, Balthazar, Saint Joseph, shepherds (?), Melchior File:De aanbidding van de koningen Rijksmuseum SK-A-671 (cropped right side).jpeg, Right side: Caspar, retinues and landscape

Notes

References

* Ainsworth, Maryan Wynn et al., ''From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art'', 2009, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.
google books
*Filedt Kok, Jan Piet, "Jan Jansz Mostaert, The Adoration of the Magi, Haarlem, c. 1520 – c. 1525", in J.P. Filedt Kok (ed.), Early Netherlandish Paintings
online coll. cat. Amsterdam 2010
(accessed 18 December 2020). * "Gossaert"
''Jean Gossart, The Adoration of the Kings''
Lorne Campbell, from ''The Sixteenth Century Netherlandish Paintings with French Paintings before 1600'', London 2011
published online 2011
*Hall, James, ''Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art'', 1996 (2nd edn.), John Murray, *Murray, Peter and Linda, revised Tom Devonshire Jones, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Art & Architecture'', 2014, Oxford University Press, , 0199695105 * Schiller, Gertud, ''Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. I'', 1971 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London, * Snyder, James. “The Early Haarlem School of Painting, Part III: The Problem of Geertgen Tot Sint Jans and Jan Mostaert.” The Art Bulletin, vol. 53, no. 4, 1971, pp. 445–458
JSTOR
* Wilson, Adrian, and Joyce Lancaster Wilson (1984). ''A Medieval Mirror''. Berkeley: University of California Press
online edition
Includes many illustrations, including a full set of woodcut pictures with notes in Chapter 6.

External links

Painting's record
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adoration Of The Magi Jan Mostaert 1520s paintings Paintings in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Mostaert Paintings by Jan Mostaert