Adoration of the Kings
1450s
tempera and gold on wood
92 x 92 cm
Inv. 59.1056
The scene is painted on the inner side of the movable wing of a winged altarpiece. The special emphasis the Virgin receives suggests that the altarpiece to which the panel belonged must have been dedicated to her: she appears crowned, like a queen, holding Jesus on her knees in the bare stable. The three, sumptuously dressed kings (named, according to tradition, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar) pay reverence to the Redeemer in the name of the rich and highly cultured world. Their gifts are expensive goldsmith’s works executed with great craftsmanship. The oldest of them humbly kneels down and gently takes the Child’s arm; their eyes meet. The other two guests symbolize the mature and young age of human life. Joseph, shown on a smaller scale, remains in the background: in Gothic painting, he has a secondary role only, as a simple onlooker of the event. The stable of Bethlehem is found among the ruins of the former palace of King David, which is revived with the birth of Jesus.
I.K.
