Weekly Meditations for Advent

Depictions of events surrounding the birth of the Christ child were extremely popular in the 17th century. The adoration of Christ by the three kings was a particularly loved theme. The kings serve as multiple symbols: the three ages of man, the three races of humanity and the world’s three then known continents. Melchior, with his white skin, represents Europe; the brown Balthazar, Asia, and Caspar, depicted as a Moor, Africa. The symbolism is meant to illustrate that Christ is revealed to all humanity, young and old, and from every corner of the earth. Born on Christmas Eve in 1566 in Gorinchem, Abraham Bloemaert came from a family with artistic ties. Bloemaert’s style evolved, around 1610 his style shifted from Mannerism to a more classicising approach. In the 1620s he had a Caravaggesque phase, and in his later years he adopted some aspects of the classicism of the Carracci. The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men – this 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. Matthew’s gospel only - It is related in the Bible by Matthew 2:11: "On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another path". The submission by these earthly rulers to Jesus is clear from the painting as was using their skills, they were guided by a star to reach the Holy Family. They were the first witnesses amongst the gentiles. Look at the expression of the wise men, their clothes and then who else is in the painting possibly pointing to the darkness and danger that lay beyond the scene. The painter is perhaps too saying the star that guided the wise men is visible to all, but not all follow. Christian iconography considerably expanded the bare account of the Biblical Magi described in the Gospel of Matthew (2:1–22). By the later Middle Ages this drew from non-canonical sources like the Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine. Artists used the expanded Christian iconography to reinforce the idea that Jesus was recognized, from his earliest infancy, as king of the earth. The adoration scene was often used to represent the Nativity, one of the most indispensable episodes in cycles of the Life of the Virgin as well as the Life of Christ. Stories throughout the Middle Ages started circulating, which speculated who exactly were the three kings who were famous for visiting the Christ child. Many people assumed that they came from somewhere in the east. Eventually it was decided that the three kings would represent the three main continents at the time: Europe, Asia, and Africa. The three names that prevailed over the centuries for the three kings were Gaspar (or Caspar), Melchior, and Balthasar. The prominence of this story, as well as the three kings or magi, is due to the great theological significance that the Biblical story holds, their exotic clothes and looks, as well as their great and expensive gifts. In the church calendar, the event is commemorated in Western Christianity as the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6). The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates the Adoration of the Magi on the Feast of the Nativity (December 25). In the earliest depictions, the Magi are shown wearing Persian dress of trousers and Phrygian caps, usually in profile, advancing in step with their gifts held out before them. These images adapt Late Antique poses for barbarians submitting to an Emperor, and presenting golden wreaths, and indeed relate to images of tribute-bearers from various Mediterranean and ancient Near Eastern cultures going back many centuries. The earliest are from catacomb paintings and sarcophagus reliefs of the 4th century. Crowns are first seen in the 10th century, mostly in the West, where their dress had by that time lost any Oriental flavour in most cases. The standard Byzantine depiction of the Nativity included the journey or arrival of the mounted Magi in the background, but not them presenting their gifts, until the post-Byzantine period, when the western depiction was often adapted to an icon style. Later Byzantine images often show small pillbox like hats, whose significance is disputed. The Magi are usually shown as the same age until about this period, but then the idea of depicting the three ages of man is introduced: a particularly beautiful example is seen on the façade of the cathedral of Orvieto. Occasionally from the 12th century, and very often in Northern Europe from the 15th, the Magi are also made to represent the three known parts of the world: Balthasar is very commonly cast as a young African or Moor, and old Caspar is given Oriental features or, more often, dress. Melchior represents Europe and middle age.