On-line gallery
- Reference number
- P01166
- Author
- Velázquez, Diego Rodríguez de Silva y (Spanish)
- Title
- Adoration of the Magi
- Chronology
- 1619
- Technique
- Support
- Measures
- 203 cm x 125 cm
- School
- Theme
- Shown
- Yes
- Entrance
- COLECCION REAL
- Procedence
- Royal Collection
The characters of the holy story
appear over at nightfall. They look
like portraits of the painter's
family, and Velasquez can be
identified as Casper, the elderly
Melchor as his father-in-law,
Francisco Pacheco, and the Virgin
as his wife, while the Christ Child
looks like the painter's new-born
daughter, Francisca. Velasquez had
been a painting teacher for two
years and had been married to Juana
Pacheco for one when he made this
work from his period in Seville.
His interest in chiaroscuro, the
tactile quality and the detailed
depiction of objects and textures
give this religious scene a close
and immediate character in keeping
with the principles of the
Counterreformation.
This work may have been made for
the Jesuite novitiate of San Luis
in Seville. The thorn bush at the
upper left may be a reference to a
relic owned by the holy King of
France. The painting is dated on
the stone under the Virgin's feet.
Location on the map
