ID: 700008648 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008648	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Aanbidding door de koningen (painting (visual work); Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640); 1624; Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Antwerp, Antwerpen pr...; Inventory number 298)

Note: A colourful procession enters the ruins of an ancient structure. On the right, Mary presents her son to the three magi, who are accompanied by servants, soldiers, horses and camels. She is not central to the composition, yet she attracts the viewer's attention, because the magi and their companions are all facing her. Gaspar kneels and offers frankincense. Melchior, the old man in red, gives gold. And the Moorish King Balthasar, in a turban, has brought myrrh. The three men represent the lands and races who knew of the birth of the Messiah. With their gifts, they honour Jesus as a human and a lord, and as God. After a long period abroad, Peter Paul Rubens returned to Antwerp in the early 17th century. He would become one of the most celebrated and successful artists of his era. In the 1620s, he received several commissions for large series of works and prestigious altarpieces. The Adoration of the Magi was commissioned by Matthias Yrsselius, the abbot of the Abbey of St Michael in Antwerp. The painting has a complex symbolic programme. The ancient pillar refers to the ravaged palace of David. According to the bible, it was from his bloodline that the Messiah was born. The ox stands for faith. Attentive viewers may have noticed the spider in its web in the top right of the composition; it symbolises evil, which Jesus, in his capacity as the Saviour, will overcome.

Titles:

Aanbidding door de koningen (preferred,C,U,RP,Dutch-P,U,U)

L’Adoration des mages (C,U,RP,French-P,U,U)

Adoration of the Magi (C,U,DE,English-P,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

painting (visual work) [300033618] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

altarpiece [300075940]

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by function>, religious visual works)

Classifications:

paintings (preferred)

Creation Date: 1624

Creator Display:

Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 - Antwerp 1640) [preferred,VP]

patron Yrsselius, Matthias, Abbot (Flemish abbot, 17th century) [500372581]

painter Rubens, Peter Paul (Flemish painter, 1577-1640) [500002921]

Locations:

Current: Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (Antwerp, Antwerpen province, Flanders, Belgium) [500238802] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: Inventory number 298

Display Materials: oil on panel

	panel (wood by form) [300014657]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, plant material, <wood and wood by product>, wood (plant material), <wood by form or function>)

	oil paint (paint) [300015050]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>)

Dimensions: 447 x 336 cm

General Subject:

religion and mythology (preferred)

Specific Subjects:

	Adoration of the Magi [901000083]
	.....((Legend of the Nativity of Christ, Life of Jesus Christ, New Testament narratives, Christian iconography, Legend, Religion, Mythology)) (ICON)

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

Sources and Contributors:
Aanbidding door de koningen	........ [VP]
	........ Koninklijk Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (2000-)
L’Adoration des mages	........ [VP]
	........ Koninklijk Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (2000-)
Adoration of the Magi	........ [VP]
	........ Koninklijk Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (2000-)

Subject: ....... [VP]

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Koninklijk Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (2000-) accessed 9 June 2016