Adoration Of Magi
The painting "Adoration of the Magi" by di
Nardo portrays the three Magi
approaching \the baby Jesus and the Virgin
Mary. However, there is much more to
it than just this familiar scene from
Judeo-Christian lore. When approaching
this painting in order to analyze it
iconographically, it is necessary to first
look at all aspects of the form.
If this aspect is ignored, it provides for an
incomplete analysis of the
painting. Once this is looked at, the iconography of
the painting becomes
much clearer, and it is easier to compare the painting to
the actual biblical
text from which it was derived (Gospel of St. Matthew 2:1
– 2:12). When
approaching the painting the first thing I noticed was the odd
perspective.
There are several vanishing points. Also, all of the figures seem
to be
placed on one plane. Because of this, the two figures that represent
Jesus
and Mary seem to be hovering weirdly above the ground. This, I believe,
draws
the viewer’s attention to these two figures, since they are the main
focus of
the painting. Due to the influence of my culture, I recognized the
figures as
Jesus and Mary immediately. However, despite this, there are a
few indicators as
to who the people represented in the painting are. When
viewing the painting, it
is obvious that the figures of mother and child are
the main point because the
gazes of all of the people in the represented
center on the child, including the
mother’s. Also, the weird hovering effect
also directs the viewer’s
attention to these two figures. Both Mary and Jesus
have halos, but this is not
necessarily a distinguishing factor seeing as how
there are also four other
figures in the painting that have halos. However,
the halo that surrounds the
head of the baby Jesus has a slightly different
pattern than those that the
other figures possess. This lets you know that
for whatever reason, this child
is set apart from all other figures in the
painting. So, even if the viewer is
of another culture or religion and
doesn’t see the significance of the female
in the picture being clothed in
blue and red, or the significance of the"blessing" position in which the baby is
holding his hand, he can see that
for some reason, this child is being
distinguished from all other people in the
painting. Another aspect of the
form that draws your attention to the Virgin and
Jesus is the triangular
set up of these two figures along with Joseph and
another Magus. The triangle
that is formed has Mary and Jesus at the peak, yet
again, drawing the
viewer’s attention to these two figures and reinforcing the
fact that they
are of some significance. When comparing the painting to the text
in the
Bible that describes the same meeting of the Magi with the baby Jesus
and
Mary, there are several differences. There are certain things that I
noticed
that not only go contrary to the painting, but to popular culture’s
idea of
this story. First, in the Bible, the Magi are referred to as, chief
priests and
teachers of the law. They were not "kings" as they are often
referred to in
Christian culture. In fact, in di Nardo’s depiction, all
of the Magi are
wearing crowns, showing this misunderstanding. Another thing
that is assumed by
di Nardo in his painting, as well as by popular culture is
that there were three
Magi. There is nothing mentioned in Matthew 2:1 –
2:12 that makes reference to
there being exactly three Magi. What I noticed
that might have lead to this
misconception, however, is that the Magi brought
gifts of "gold, incense and
myrrh." This is the only thing that I saw that
could have lead to the belief
that there were three Magi – one Magus for each
gift. There are also extra
people in the painting whom I could not identify.
There is no mention of anyone
in the bible besides Jesus, Mary and the Magi.
There is not even any mention of
Joseph who is clearly depicted. Also,
the gifts that the Magi are holding in the
painting by di Nardo, are all the
same and look as though they are gold, rather
than gold, incense and myrrh.
Whether these are merely containers with the true
gifts inside of them, I do
not know, but even if they are, this still strays
from the original biblical
story, because it gives no mention of the gifts being
presented in golden
cases. Another aspect that is different in di Nardo’s
painting than it is in
the Bible, is that in the painting, the Magus that bows
down to worship Jesus
has removed his crown and placed it on the ground in front
of Jesus. There is
no mention of this in the Bible. This goes along with the
misrepresentation
of the Magi as kings or Wise Men. There is also an additional
part added by
di Nardo that is not mentioned in the Bible. The Bible simply
states that the
Magi "saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down
and worshiped
him." (Matthew 2:11) However, di Nardo portrays one Magus bowing
down and
kissing the baby Jesus’ feet. Another outstanding difference between
the
Bible and di Nardo’s depiction of the story is that when the Magi go to
pay
respects to Jesus, he, Mary and Joseph are living in a house at that
time.
They did not visit Jesus on the night of his birth in a manger,
contrary to yet
another convention. Di Nardo clearly portrays the scene as
taking place in a
manger, shown by the prominent horse and cow placed
centrally in the picture. It
is also clear that the scene is taking place out
of doors because there are
grasses and weeds growing out of the ground. The
Bible clearly states that the
Magi went into a house, showing that this
was not the newborn Jesus that they
were visiting, but a child who was
several months old. There is also one detail
mentioned in the biblical
version that di Nardo, for whatever reason, chose to
leave out of "Adoration
of the Magi." The Bible makes a big point that the
Magi followed a star
to find Jesus, and that the start stopped over the house
where the baby Jesus
was. However, in di Nardo’s representation, the sky is
clear and golden. The
several differences between the painting and the actual
story in the Bible
show the vast misconceptions (or if these were not
misconceptions, at least
misrepresentations) of di Nardo when painting this
picture. However, these
misconceptions were not di Nardo’s alone. Whether
these were commonly held
beliefs at the time that "Adoration of the Magi"
was painted, I do not know.
What I do know however, is that when I initially
started looking at the
painting I did not notice anything "wrong" with it.
In fact, I was going
to change my selection on the belief that the painting was"too straight
forward." It was not until I started carefully looking at the
notes I had
taken about the picture and the notes I had taken about the verses
in Matthew
that I noticed these subtle differences. I had never read that
section of the
Bible before and through years of Christmas songs, and setting up
the manger
with Wise Men and the baby Jesus in my living room at Christmas time,
I
had come to believe that that there were three Wise Men. They were
"three
kings from Bethlehem." They visited Jesus in the manger with the cows
and the
sheep. This shows that what is conventionally believed is not
necessarily
accurate. We see this clearly in "Adoration of the Magi," which
initially
looks perfectly okay to the popular Judeo-Christian eye, but upon
closer
inspection holds many of the common misconceptions of the three Wise
Men.