The ''Adoration of the Magi'' is a 1624 oil on canvas painting by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish painting, Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged comp ...

, measuring 447 cm by 336 cm. It was commissioned by

Matthæus Yrsselius Matthæus Yrsselius or Irsselius, the Latinized form of Mattheus van Iersel (1541–1629), was abbot of St. Michael's Abbey, Antwerp, from 1614 until his death. He was remembered as a patron of the arts and sciences. Patronage In 1624, he commis ...

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

St. Michael's Abbey, Antwerp St Michael's Abbey in Antwerp was a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1124 by Norbert of Xanten and laid waste during the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1807 a semaphore station was installed in the tower of the church. The buildings were demolis ...

, as an

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

, and paid for in two instalments of 750 guilders each in 1624 and 1626. The Virgin Mary is thought to have been modelled on Rubens' first wife

Isabella Brant Isabella Brant (or Brandt; 1591 – 15 July 1626) was the first wife of the Flemish baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, who painted several portraits of her. Family She was the eldest daughter of Jan Brant, an important city official in Antw ...

. The painting is now in the

Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp ( Dutch: ''Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen''; KMSKA) is a museum in Antwerp, Belgium, founded in 1810, that houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings from the fourteenth to t ...

In popular culture

The painting is an important story arc in the comic book album ''"De Raap van Rubens"'' ("Rubens' apprentice") (1977) in the Belgian comic book series ''

Suske en Wiske ''Spike and Suzy'' (British title), ''Willy and Wanda'' (American title) or ''Luke and Lucy'' (in a 2009 film and video game) (, ) is a Belgian comics series created by the comic book creator, comics author Willy Vandersteen. It was first publis ...

''. The characters visit it in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Later the man in the red cloak on the painting comes alive and steals a necklace from

Lambik Lambik is a Flemish comic book character from the Belgian comic strip series ''Spike and Suzy'' by Willy Vandersteen. In the English translations he is known as ''Orville'' or ''Ambrose''. Lambik is the breakout character of the franchise and one ...

. In order to find out why the man does this Lambik travels back in time, to the era of

References

Bibliography

*Ricart, Joan (coord.) (2008). ''Rubens.'' Barcelona:Sol 90. . 1624 paintings Paintings by Peter Paul Rubens

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

Paintings in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp Camels in art Cattle in art Oil on canvas paintings {{1620s-painting-stub

In popular culture

See also

References

Bibliography