Scripture · Matthew 2:11
Matthew 2:11
Adoration of the Magi
On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Gold is both an offering in the story and a material in the painting. Gentile's procession brings treasure into a surface made precious with metal leaf and raised ornament.
About the artwork
The visitors' journey unfolds in small scenes across the upper background, then arrives in the crowded foreground. Horses, servants and patterned garments carry the pageantry forward. At the left, the oldest king kneels close to the child; the expansive procession contracts into that small meeting.
Palla Strozzi commissioned the altarpiece for his family chapel in Santa Trinita, Florence. The Uffizi describes metal leaf worked into relief so details such as spurs and sword hilts could project physically. The magnificence is therefore more than an illusion of expensive objects. This reproduction shows the main panel; the complete altarpiece includes its frame and a lower sequence of Christ's childhood scenes.
Featured in: 20 Famous Adoration of the Magi Paintings
What does Matthew 2:11 mean?
Matthew 2:11 places worship before the presentation of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gentile makes both the treasure and the change of posture emphatic. The painting displays the resources of a wealthy patron while showing wealth brought before a child. Its beauty holds that tension in view: the expense of the gift can honor its recipient even as it makes the giver conspicuous.
Sources
Uffizi: Gentile da Fabriano’s Adoration of the Magi.
Matthew 2 — Berean Standard Bible. The paired text read in its surrounding chapter.
Also from Matthew:Marriage of the VirginThe Dream of Saint Joseph