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The Virgin sits in front of a dilapidated stable with the naked Christ Child on her knee. Three men offer golden gifts – this is the Adoration of the Kings, a biblical episode imagined as a contemporary event. It’s a chilly winter day: Mary’s dress has fur-lined sleeves and Joseph has a thick-belted robe. This is one of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s few religious paintings; the upright format and rich colouration suggest it might have been designed as an altarpiece. But its uneasy atmosphere is at odds with a devotional work. The kings are richly dressed but dishevelled, the soldiers menacing, the spectators bewildered or enraged. The crowding, the elongated proportions of the main figures and their nearness to the viewer add to the claustrophobic atmosphere.
Title
The Adoration of the Kings
Date
1564
Medium
Oil on oak
Measurements
H 111.1 x W 83.2 cm
Accession number
NG3556
Acquisition method
Bought with contributions from The Art Fund and Arthur Serena through The Art Fund, 1920
Work type
Painting
The National Gallery, London
Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England
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