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A great throng of retainers and animals accompany the Three Kings to pay homage to the infant Christ (Matthew 2: 2–12). Reclining among angels in the heavens, God the Father blesses all those below. The Virgin Mary holds the Christ Child, who blesses the eldest king prostrated before him and receives the gold he offers. The next king has taken off his crown and kneels in respect. The third, dark-skinned king takes from an attendant the large golden urn of myrrh he will present to Christ. Fragments of a ruined classical building – perhaps a city gate or triumphal arch – are scattered in the foreground. Ruined classical architecture is often included in Renaissance paintings of the Nativity to symbolise the end of the old pagan world and the dawn of the new Christian era.
Title
The Adoration of the Kings
Date
about 1524-5
Medium
Oil on wood
Measurements
H 144.2 x W 125.7 cm
Accession number
NG218
Acquisition method
Presented by Edmund Higginson, 1849
Work type
Painting