The Adoration of the Magi
Artist: Master of the Vision of St. John (German, active ca.1450-1460)
Date: about 1460
Dimensions:
H: 51 in. (129.5 cm); W: 28 in. (71.1 cm)
Medium: Oil on wood panel
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1936.80
Label Text:Shown as Renaissance kings, the three Magi (“wise men”) wear sumptuous fur-trimmed brocades, pearl-embroidered cloaks, and jeweled gold crowns. The Magi, three eastern kings, traveled to Bethlehem to honor the infant Christ with gifts. The story was often interpreted during the Renaissance as earthly governments (the Magi) recognizing the authority of the Church (Jesus).
The artist, whose name is unknown, probably worked in Cologne, Germany, in the mid-1400s. Like many other Northern European artists, he was fond of minutely observed details—the texture of fur and cloth, the wrinkles of skin, the depiction of specific plants, and the way light hits surfaces. While the faces of the Magi and of Joseph, seated behind his wife, are individual and even portrait-like, Mary’s heavy-lidded eyes, straight nose, and high forehead conform to conceptions of ideal beauty of the time.
The artist, whose name is unknown, probably worked in Cologne, Germany, in the mid-1400s. Like many other Northern European artists, he was fond of minutely observed details—the texture of fur and cloth, the wrinkles of skin, the depiction of specific plants, and the way light hits surfaces. While the faces of the Magi and of Joseph, seated behind his wife, are individual and even portrait-like, Mary’s heavy-lidded eyes, straight nose, and high forehead conform to conceptions of ideal beauty of the time.
On view
In Collection(s)