The Adoration of the Kings, Famous Paintings in detail

The Adoration of the Kings

Famous Paintings in detail

GOES, Hugo van derThe Adoration of the Kings (Monforte Altar) c. 1470Oil on wood, 150 x 247 cmStaatliche Museen, Berlin

GOES, Hugo van derThe Adoration of the Kings (Monforte Altar) (detail)c. 1470Oil on woodStaatliche Museen, Berlin


A group of villagers observe this extraordinary scene through a gap in the wall. The figures, both actors and witnesses, are all shown on the same scale, whether humble or magnificent. They are neither reticent nor exalted, but react to the event in their various ways, surprised or self-conscious.A tiny squirrel is running along one of the beams above the opening through which the villagers observe the scene.


In the background we can see a few women, some cottages and a river besides which the Kings' horses are waiting.


In the foreground details are depicted with great care.


In the foreground, symbolic flowers are depicted with great care.

BASSANO, JacopoAdoration of the Kings1542Oil on canvas, 183 x 235 cmNational Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

BASSANO, JacopoAdoration of the Kings (detail)1542Oil on canvas, 183 x 235 cmNational Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

BRUEGEL, Pieter the ElderThe Adoration of the Kings1564Oil on wood, 111 x 84 cmNational Gallery, London

BRUEGEL, Pieter the ElderThe Adoration of the Kings (detail)1564Oil on wood, 111 x 84 cmNational Gallery, London

BRUEGEL, Pieter the ElderThe Adoration of the Kings (detail)1564Oil on wood, width of detail 21 cmNational Gallery, London

Bruegel depicts the Adoration as it could have been staged in a Passion play. It was admissible within the context of such plays that someone whisper something in Joseph's ear - not, however, in the case of pictures, according to the guidelines laid down by the Counter-Reformation.

BRUEGEL, Pieter the ElderThe Adoration of the Kings (detail)1564Oil on wood, width of detail 26 cmNational Gallery, London

BRUEGEL, Pieter the ElderThe Adoration of the Kings (detail)1564Oil on wood, 111 x 84 cmNational Gallery, London

DAVID, GerardAdoration of the Kingsc. 1515Oil on panel, 60 x 59 cmNational Gallery, London

DAVID, GerardAdoration of the Kings (detail)c. 1515Oil on panelNational Gallery, London

GOSSART, JanThe Adoration of the Kings1500-15Oil on woodNational Gallery, London

GOSSART, JanThe Adoration of the Kings (detail)1500-15Oil on woodNational Gallery, London


Recent technical examination of Gossart's paintings led to the suggestion that Gerard David collaborated with Gossart on some paintings including the present Adoration. It is assumed that, in addition to some other details, the head of the Virgin was painted by Gerard David, whose influence on Gossart is shown by a comparison with David's Adoration of the Kings in London.

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GOSSART, JanThe Adoration of the Kings

This large picture was painted as the altarpiece of the Lady Chapel of the Abbey of St Adrian's, Geraardsbergen, near Brussels. It was evidently commissioned by a local nobleman, Daniel van Boechout, Lord of Boerlare, who was to be buried there. Behind the kneeling king, Caspar, stands Melchior with a retinue of attendants. Balthazar is on the left, and

Gossaert has signed his name on the border of his headdress and again on the collar worn by his attendant.

The dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, descends to the infant Christ from the brilliant star in the sky, and angels approach from a great distance through a series of arches, giving the scene a spectacular sense of space and depth.

Gossaert used the bright colour and highly detailed oil painting technique of his 15th-century Netherlandish predecessors to sophisticated effect. The figures wear sumptuous costumes made of rich fabrics. The metalwork gifts presented by the kings are elaborate and reflect contemporary designs.

GOES, Hugo van derThe Adoration of the Kings (Monforte Altar)

The most brilliant work from the early period of van der Goes is the Monforte Altarpiece, named after the town in which it was housed, in a college belonging to a group of Spanish Jesuits, before being subsequently transferred to the Berlin museum. It is a large-scale triptych, of which only the central panel, a long horizontal rectangle, has survived

to the present day. A group of hovering angels have been amputated from the top of the panel, and the two wings have disappeared. The theme of the surviving picture is the adoration of the Kings.

The Three Kings and their followers come upon the Virgin, the Holy Infant and Joseph amid the ruins of a palace. A group of villagers observe this extraordinary scene through a gap in the wall. The figures, both actors and witnesses, are all shown on the same scale, whether humble or magnificent. They are neither reticent nor exalted, but react to the

event in their various ways, surprised or self-conscious. In the background we can see a few women, some cottages and a river besides which the Kings' horses are waiting.

In the foreground, symbolic flowers - the lily and columbine - and a pottery vessel are depicted with great care. A tiny squirrel is running along one of the beams above the opening through which the villagers observe the scene. Van der Goes has given free rein to his imagination, both in the composition and in his handling of paint, deploying the

splendidly rich colours that are so characteristic of his art, mixing blazing reds with the most delicately nuanced shades.

BASSANO, JacopoAdoration of the Kings

From about the 1530s many Venetian pictures became much larger than the earlier works painted for some private space in the owner's home, probably because they were destined for the grander surroundings of reception rooms. This tendency is well illustrated by Jacopo Bassano's The Adoration of the Kings. Although he is one of the greatest

representatives of the Venetian pictorial tradition, Bassano lived and worked not in Venice itself, but in the modest market town of Bassano on the Venetian mainland from which he derived his name.

The painting presents a magnificent pageant as the three kings present to the newborn Child their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The painter's skill in portraying animals, unsurpassed among his contemporaries, is evident in the beautifully observed details of the ox and the ass, on the far left, and the dogs. But these, and the general bustle of the scene, are subjected to the formal order created by the semi-circular sweep of the composition, and by the decoratively repeating patches of intense colour; Bassano does not let his interest

in animals and in slices of everyday life - such as the chatting boys and kneeling manservant - detract from the religious significance of the subject.

The picturesque ruins on the left, for example, are certainly intended to be symbolic of the decay of pagan antiquity with the coming of Christ.The central figure in the painting, the king in the striped doublet may be identified as a portrait of the painting's patron, Jacopo Gisi. The two page-boys behind him may also be

portraits of his sons.

BRUEGEL, Pieter the ElderThe Adoration of the Kings

In this unusual rendering of the Adoration, the Three Kings presenting their gifts are treated as caricatures and the Virgin is not idealised. The work is composed from a high viewpoint, focusing attention on the Infant Christ on his mother's lap, at the exact centre of the picture. People crowd around them and there is little sense of depth or space. The elongated figures of

the Kings are characteristic of a painting style that was fashionable around this time.

A figure on the extreme right wears spectacles. His presence may indicate that those around Christ are blind to his significance; Bruegel has used spectacles on other occasions to signify in an ironic manner the inability of the subject to see the truth. Most of the figures, in fact, appear to be gently mocked by the artist.

It is uncommon for soldiers to be included in a depiction of the Adoration. As in other works by Bruegel, their presence may reflect the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands at this time.

DAVID, GerardAdoration of the Kings

The Christ Child sits on his mother's lap within the ruins of a castle, before a townscape. The Virgin rests on a stone manger, while Joseph descends a stairway at the left. The Magi proceed to pay homage and a crowd of onlookers peer in at the right. Caspar kneels before the Virgin (the ox and the ass can be seen above his head); a little further back Melchior

prepares to make his offering; and Balthazar enters the ruin from the right. In the town beyond people stand in the street and look up at the spectacle. New Testament (John 2: 1-2, 11)

This painting and the 'Lamentation' are similar in terms of style and dimensions, and are thought to be from the same altarpiece. Both panels appear to date from about 1515, and show similarities with the palette of Quinten Massys's paintings.

Adoration of the Kings

The Bible says that after the birth of Christ, wise men (magi) from the East came to worship him. They told King Herod of the child, thus unwittingly causing the Massacre of the Innocents (Matthew 2).

The wise men are frequently portrayed as kings. Painters therefore had considerable scope for depicting detailed finery. One of them (Balthazar) is often shown as black. They brought symbolic gifts:

gold for a king; frankincense for a priest; and myrrh for suffering and death.

The Adoration of the Kings, Famous Paintings in detail

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