Peter Paul Rubens was the most versatile and influential Baroque artist in Northern Europe in the seventeenth century. This Adoration of the Magi is one of his earliest masterpieces in the High Baroque style he developed after 1620. The Virgin and her Child are the focal point of this adoration, but, contrary to tradition, they are not placed in the middle of the canvas. In religious painting, the adoration of the Messiah by the Wise Men from the East had become a static scene. Here, Rubens has transformed the scene into an image full of motion, with a great variety of poses, expressions, gestures and flowing garments, all of which draws the spectator’s gaze to the protagonists, the Virgin and Jesus. This suggestion of motion is further heightened by forceful and creative brushwork, with blurred contours and colours that blend into each other, almost as in an oil sketch. The lively asymmetrical composition, sophisticated colouring and spontaneity of execution make this monumental altarpiece by Rubens into a dynamic and decorative masterpiece of the Flemish High Baroque.
