17th century, Flemish School, Adoration of the Magi

17th century, Flemish school

Adoration of the Magi

Oil on copper, diam. 19,5 cm

With frame 35,3 x 35,3 cm

Engraved on the back in 17th century calligraphy “Flemish”

Vivid scene of adoration, brilliant with the most symphonic colors. The particular copper support allows the artist's creativity to express itself to the fullest, highlighting through a splendidly bright coloristic iridescence a composition that is both choral and intimately devout. The procession of the Magi is depicted, made up of the traditional trio of exotic rulers, although the canonical Gospels do not mention their number on any occasion. The figural specification of the three, defined according to a crescendo of maturity, is a metaphor for the total participation, by the human race, in the birth of Christ, both of the young and of the more mature people. The candor of the Virgin and Child, combined with the cobalt blue of the Mother's maphorion dress, stands out exceptionally against the gold and the burgundy of the Magi's clothes; a soft fluttering of cloaks conveys the palpitation of the moment, in which the three ambassadors simultaneously reach out towards the Son, in a joyful and irrepressible homage. In the background, Joseph peacefully observes the scene; the addition of ox, donkey and camels, as well as the superb comet's tail, completes the delicate little picture, infinitely precious in the pearly touches of light that illuminate the crowns and hilts of the Magi, happily touching in the nocturnal sky that veils the sky in the distance.

As recalled in the engraving on the back of the copper, which identifies the artist of the present as “Flemish”, it is possible to compare the painting to contemporary examples created by artists of the calibre of the eclectic Frans Francken the Younger (1581-1642) and Simon de Vos (1603-1676). The gentle and luminous world of Francken, reproduced in the transparent mouldings of the painting in question, also recurs in the Adoration of the Magi executed by the Flemish artist and today kept at the Courtier Lodgings of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, as well as in the National Museum of the same city. Dean of the painting Guild of Saint Luke of the Southern Dutch school from 1614, Francken specialized in small-format paintings, becoming a main model among Flemish artists; he excelled in many fields, and placed himself at the head of a flourishing workshop which was later joined by his son Frans Francken III (1607-1667). A replica of the copper presented here has recently appeared on the antiques market, not as superbly made as the present one. The founder of the Francken family influenced the works of his contemporaries Pieter Paul Rubens, Jan Brueghel the Elder and David Teniers the Younger. Simon de Vos can be compared to the present one, not only for the evident formal assonance, but also for the re-presentation of the exotic and darting camel on the left side of the painting, in works now preserved in private collections. Note the figurative derivation of the present camel with the one executed in the volume Historiae animalium published in Zurich in two times, first between 1551-58, then in 1587, a revolutionary encyclopedia of zoology edited by Conrad Gesner, professor at the Carolinum, then ancestor of the University of Zurich.