ADORATION OF THE MAGI

Adoration of the Magi

  

ADORATION OF THE MAGI

by Sydney Greaves

Rest of the Flight to Egypt

Much of the Medieval gallery’s Christian art is narrative in some sense, using images of saints and heroes and episodes from the Bible to decorate, educate and inspire. One of the most popular stories from the life of Jesus is depicted in the gallery’s Adoration of the Magi (80.43).

The story, found only in the Gospel of Matthew, takes place immediately following Jesus’ birth. In a far eastern land, wise men, or magi recognize the appearance of a great new star as heralding the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy – the birth of a great king and leader of the Jewish people. The magi eagerly travel west following the star, inquiring as to the location of the newborn King of the Jews. The rumors of this new king greatly disturb the Roman-supported ruler in Jerusalem, King Herod. Learning that the city of Bethlehem is to be the Messiah’s birthplace, Herod sends the magi ahead with the promise to report to him on their way home; Herod secretly intends not to worship but to kill the child. The Magi find the baby Jesus with his mother Mary and her husband Joseph and, presenting him with costly gifts, bow down and worship him. Warned of Herod’s murderous intentions by a dream, the magi return east by a different route. Joseph is likewise warned about Herod in a dream, so the family flees to Egypt in order to avoid the coming Massacre of the Innocents- the order to kill all male children under age 2.

[The family’s Rest on the Flight to Egypt (94.23) is the subject of another painting right in this same gallery!]

According to most forms of Christianity, the magi were the first religious figures to acknowledge and worship Jesus as the Messiah, or Christ, long-anticipated savior king promised to the Jewish people.  The magi, also known as astrologers, Wise Men or Kings from the east, were likely priests of Zoroastrianism, one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions, founded by the prophet Zoroaster in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago. Magi actually means priest in the Zoroastrian sacred language. The magi made great studies of the heavens, tracking the movements of stars and other bodies to make predictions and follow prophecies.

The story in Matthew describes three gifts presented by the magi to Jesus; gold, frankincense and myrrh. These substances carried great symbolic weight even before the first century CE as gifts fit for a king:  gold represented wealth in nearly all societies, the perfume of frankincense was a rich luxury item, and oil of myrrh was commonly used for anointing (as one would a king). Later Christian scholars attributed ritual and prophetic significance to these gifts; gold as representing Jesus’ kingship on earth, frankincense (an incense) symbolizing worship and divinity, and myrrh (as an embalming oil) as foretelling Jesus’ death.

Mention of these three specific gifts led to the assumption of three magi, even though their number is never specified in the story. Over time, especially in Northern Europe from about the 1400s, the exotic appearance of the magi came to represent the three known parts of the world:  Balthasar = a young dark-skinned African or Moor,  Melchior = mid-aged, withAsian or Persian dress or features, and Caspar =an elderly Caucasian European.

                                                                     

The popularity of the Adoration of the Magi can be credited not only to the story itself, but to the opportunities such a scene presented for the display of an artist’s skills. From the 14th century onwards, large retinues of grooms, soldiers and servants with dogs, horses, camels and other creatures, accompanying the magi made for a complex, crowded composition. The ethnicity, varied ages, clothing, and spectacular gifts of the magi themselves also received increasingly detailed attention that required skillful painterly treatment of silks, brocades, fur, jewels and metals. The simple setting of the stable where Jesus was born, combined with the irresistibly exotic nature of “kings from the east” provided a variety of textures and characters to demonstrate the artists’ virtuosity and delight the viewers’ imagination.

The Adoration of the Magi often became paired with the Adoration of the Shepherds, whose parallel visit to the stable is described in the Gospel of Luke; in some compositions the two scenes are combined, or contrasted as side-panels to a larger central scene, usually a Nativity [birth-scene of Jesus alone with Mary and Joseph].  The somewhat unusual size, rather long-and-tall, of our own Adoration of the Magi indicate its possible origins as one part of a triptych (three-panel painting) or diptych (two-panels) in just such a configuration.

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Known only as Maître du Sant-Sang [Master of the Holy Blood],  the artist behind our Adoration is believed to be a Bruges-born Flemish artist active around the 1530s, currently credited with 30 works. He takes his name from the Brotherhood of the Holy Blood, a monastery in Bruges for whom he painted a triptych of the Lamentation, or the mourning of Jesus’ death by his followers at the foot of the cross (c.1530; Bruges, Mus. Heilige Bloed). None of the works currently attributed to the Maître du Sant-Sang include images of patrons (often shown kneeling in admiration on one side of a painted scene, likely indicating that he worked for the market and not for an exclusive wealthy sponsor.)

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The visit of the magi to the baby Jesus is celebrated in Western Christianity on January 6 --the Feast of the Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas. According to tradition in Spanish-speaking parts of the world, Los Tres Reyes Magos visit and leave gifts for the children, who prepare food and drink for the magi and their camels on the night before Epiphany.

Interestingly, Matthew’s description of the Magi kneeling in reverence before the baby Jesus had an important effect on early Christian religious practice. Previously both Jewish and Roman tradition had viewed kneeling and prostration [lying on the ground full-length, face down] as generally undignified; however, for Persians it was a sign of great respect, as shown to a king. Inspired by these verses, kneeling and prostration became adopted in the early Church. Today prostration is rarely practiced, but kneeling remains an important element of Christian worship.