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Lot Essay
Georges Marlier compiles the oeuvres of a number of unidentified artists working in and around the workshop of Pieter Coecke van Aelst in the appendix to his 1966 monograph on the influential Flemish master. He identifies half a dozen paintings by the anonymous hand he names after a triptych housed in the collection of Bob Jones University, Greenville (loc. cit., p. 412, fig. 377), including the present work. Another highly comparable triptych attributed to the Master was sold at Koller, Geneva (23 March 2008, lot 3007). All three works share the same three scenes from the early life of Christ: The Nativity, The Adoration of the Magi, and The Flight into Egypt, with only slight changes in the distant landscapes, ruins, and the positions and clothing of the figures. A fourth triptych in the Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota (inv. no. SN203), has a similar central panel with wings depicting The Passion of Christ, and preserved outer wings featuring The Annunciation painted in grisaille.
The Master, clearly influenced by the prevailing Antwerp Mannerist style, combines Flemish naturalism with exuberant decorative details. Here, the artist delights in describing the exotic dress of the three magi, marble columns, distant mountains, and the curls of the Virgin’s golden hair. The Adoration of the Magi was a particularly favored subject among Antwerp painters of the period, likely because the theme of travelers from distant lands bringing luxurious gifts would have resonated with the merchants and traders — who themselves formed the city’s largest group of patrons. Interest in the Magi within the urban mercantile elite appears to have been so strong that the traditional names of the three kings — Balthasar, Casper and Melchior — were frequently found in Antwerp merchant families.
The Master, clearly influenced by the prevailing Antwerp Mannerist style, combines Flemish naturalism with exuberant decorative details. Here, the artist delights in describing the exotic dress of the three magi, marble columns, distant mountains, and the curls of the Virgin’s golden hair. The Adoration of the Magi was a particularly favored subject among Antwerp painters of the period, likely because the theme of travelers from distant lands bringing luxurious gifts would have resonated with the merchants and traders — who themselves formed the city’s largest group of patrons. Interest in the Magi within the urban mercantile elite appears to have been so strong that the traditional names of the three kings — Balthasar, Casper and Melchior — were frequently found in Antwerp merchant families.