774 - Biblical scene, Adoration of the Magi, old master style oil painting in cabinet format

Biblical scene, Adoration of the Magi, old master style oil painting in cabinet format Oil on canvas, unsigned. Adoration of the Magi: before an architectural setting the Virgin sits in a blue mantle over a red dress with the Christ Child on her lap, Joseph behind her at the left. Balthasar kneels before her in a white, gold-edged mantle and offers a golden vessel; behind him Caspar in a yellow coat holding a golden crown, at the right Melchior in a green robe and red mantle. In the background the retinue with lances, banners and horses, above the scene the Star of Bethlehem. The painting in warm brown, red and gold tones. Age-appropriate condition, craquelure, retouching, partial paint losses in the outer areas, restretched onto a new stretcher. Image 42 x 33 cm (HxW), framed, frame slightly bumped, frame width 6 cm. The subject from the Gospel of Matthew is among the most popular pictorial themes in Western art. Since the Middle Ages the three kings have been named Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar and understood as embodiments of the three ages of man and of the parts of the world then known. The motif was especially widespread in Antwerp cabinet painting of the 17th century; the version painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1609 for Antwerp town hall, today in the Museo del Prado, was widely disseminated through the engraving by Lucas Vorsterman and repeated in smaller formats by workshops for generations.