Adoration of the Magi / Jan Erasmus Quellinus / Attributed to

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Record Details

Accession Number
1963/2.44
Title
Adoration of the Magi
Artist Nationality
Flemish
Artist Life Dates
1634-1715
Medium and Support
oil on paper mounted on canvas
Object Creation Date
1634-1715
Object Creation Place
Europe (continent)
Belgium (nation)
Creation Place 1
Europe (continent)
Creation Place 2
Belgium (nation)
Credit Line
Museum Purchase
Style/Group/Movement
Baroque
Dimensions
52.07 cm x 62.87 cm x 6.67 cm (20 1/2 in. x 24 3/4 in. x 2 5/8 in.)
Primary Object Classification
Painting
Physical Description
This unfinished painted study depicts a crowd of figures gathered around three richly dressed men and a woman and child, who appear on a flight of stairs near the entrance to a large building decorated with classical columns and pilasters. An elderly bald man wearing a red cloak trimmed with ermine kneels with his head bowed at the top of the stairs before a kneeling woman who holds an infant in her right arm. Another man wearing a turban decorated with a large feather stands behind the kneeling man and holds a gold censer hanging from a chain in his left hand. A third richly dressed man stands at the bottom of the stairs with his back turned toward the viewer. A number of other figures crowd around this central group from the sides. A large ox sits in the right foreground with a donkey standing behind it.
Subject Matter
This painting depicts the three Magi who came to pay homage to the infant Christ, an episode mentioned only briefly in the Gospel of Matthew (2:11) but greatly embellished in art and legend over the centuries. Here the Magi, represented as kings in accord with long established tradition, appear on the steps of a grand building decorated with classical columns and pilasters. The foremost magus, the elderly Melchior, kneels before the Virgin and infant Christ, while Balthasar, sporting an exotic turban, stands behind him holding a smoking censer, a reference to the gifts of frankincense and myrrh given by the magi. The third magus, Caspar, stands at the bottom of the steps with his back toward the viewer.
Rights
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Technical Details

Image Size
1209 x 921
File Size
138 KB
Record
1963/2.44
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1963-sl-2.44/1963_2.44.jpg

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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1963-SL-2.44:1963_2.44.JPG

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"Adoration of the Magi; Jan Erasmus Quellinus; Attributed to." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1963-sl-2.44/1963_2.44.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.
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