Old Masters · Matthew 2:11 · 5 October 2026 · 6 works
The Adoration of the Magi
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
For Epiphany: six painters, from Giotto's plain panel to Velázquez's family portrait.
Mary lies under a wooden roof; Joseph stands at the left with a gift in his hands. The oldest king has knelt down, laid his crown on the ground and lifts the child out of the manger. Two more kings wait behind him.
A procession of horses, hunters, monkeys and falcons has come to a halt in front of a cave. The oldest king kisses the child's foot, the second kneels, and the youngest waits while a page takes off his spurs. Everything shines with gold.
Mary sits with the child high up in a ruin, Joseph behind her. An old man in black kneels before them. The rest of the picture is filled with well-dressed Florentines who talk, look on or look at us.
Mary sits in front of a ruined wall and holds the child towards the oldest king, who kneels and offers a casket. The child reaches into it. Two more kings stand behind, one with long curls, one a young African.
The figures are large and stand close. Mary holds the child, who shrinks back from the gift. The two older kings are haggard old men; the third, in a white cloak, waits at the right with a strange vessel. Behind them soldiers crowd in.
A young mother holds her child upright on her knees like something she is showing. The child is tightly swaddled and looks calmly at the men who kneel before him. It is evening; the faces are lit from the side.
