Back to: Renaissance Art and the Christmas Story
The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worship him. It is related in the Bible by Matthew 2:11:
“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.”:
• Gold: Symbolic of Christ the King.
• Frankincense: Used for worship in the Temple, it is symbolic of Christ the High Priest.
• Myrrh: A perfume, it was used to anoint dead bodies, it is symbolic of His death for the sake of truth, and therefore of Christ the Prophet.
Early Renaissance paintings of this theme, such as by Fra Angelico and Fra Lippi, emphasize the pomp and pageantry of the scene.
In centers of trade such as Florence Italy , Antwerp in Belgium, the Magi were regarded as the patron saints of traveling merchants, and so international trade in general.
Over time there were many more characters. The scene often includes a fair diversity of animals as well: the ox and ass from the Nativity scene are usually there, but also the horses, camels, dogs, and falcons of the kings and their retinue, and sometimes other animals, such as birds in the rafters of the stable.
The “adoration” of the Magi at the crib is the usual subject, but their arrival called the “Procession of the Magi”, is often shown in the distant background of a Nativity scene.