Scripture · Matthew 4:1-11
Matthew 2:11
The 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.
A thick post stands between us and the offering. Tissot lets the visitors obstruct one another in a low, rocky shelter; the brightest, least obstructed presence is the infant lying at the right.
About the artwork
The standing men have to incline their heads beneath the dark enclosure. A visitor in spotted fabric bends around the post, bringing his gift toward the child's white bedding. The steep angle and partial views make us look from the edge of the gathering. We are close enough to see the offering, yet cannot see the whole gathering at once. This is one episode in Tissot's Life of Christ watercolours. Its detailed setting gives a brief event the physical inconvenience of an encounter: people occupy space, block the light and make room for others. The elaborate clothing has entered a place that offers it little room to display itself.
Featured in: 20 Famous Adoration of the Magi Paintings
What does Matthew 2:11 mean?
Matthew 2:11 moves quickly from entering the house to seeing the child with Mary, bowing and presenting gifts. Tissot slows that entrance down. His reconstructed shelter differs from the verse's spare description, but its cramped space makes the visitors' purpose clear: they have come to reach this child, not to find a setting worthy of their treasures.
Sources
Brooklyn Museum: The Adoration of the Magi, institutional image record. Exact work and medium documented with the image uploaded by Brooklyn Museum.
Brooklyn Museum: Tissot, The Life of Christ. The museum series and its chronological organization.
Matthew 2 — Berean Standard Bible. The paired text read in its surrounding chapter.
Also from Matthew:Marriage of the VirginThe Dream of Saint Joseph
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