And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:11

Our painting is a wonderful depiction of this moment. It would likely have been commissioned for use for private devotion in the home, and is probably a later 18th or 19th Century copy of a 16th Century work (now lost) by a Flemish Master Quinten Massijs (1466 – 1530).

The Three Kings, resplendent in their royal robes, kneel before the Christ Child, symbolising the rule of the divine over the earthly. The detail and colour of the robes shows are expertly rendered, as are the solemn faces of the Kings. The Christ Child himself is almost smiling, as he leans toward the Kings from the safety of Mary’s sure hands. Behind the Kings two curious shepherds peer from behind a pillar, as angels hover above the manger beside the star that has guided the Magi to the Christ Child. The artist infuses the scene with holiness and humanity.

Further evidence of the artist’s mastery are the scenes behind the adoration. We have a riders watering their horses in a river; typical low country style houses in front of a lake or river, and high atop a hill a fortified Burgundian castle – all rendered in with fine detail and realism. These familiar scenes would have made the Adoration relevant for place and time it was commissioned.

Behind all of this the sky is a clear blue, The sun is just below the horizon, not to be outshone by the Son of Man.

Provenance: European Private Collection

Our painting is catalogued in the image library of the RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History, entry 5941, as School of Quinten Massijs (1466 – 1530). A cut down 19th Century copy is in the collection of Museum of Fine Arts, Valenciennes.  Our painting relates to a composition in the collection of the St. Louis Art Museum, USA; this piece, attributed to a Follower of Hugo van der Goes (1440 – 1482), is likely based on the same lost Massijs work as our painting.