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The Adoration of the Magi

Image attached to M.53-1904

An image of The Adoration of the Magi
Limoges Painted enamel
Rectangular, slightly convex copper plaque, enamelled en grisaille on a translucent brown ground, and gilded. The reverse has clear counter-enamel, but much of it is covered by a black substance
The Virgin is seated on the left holding the Christ Child on her knee. St Joseph stands to the left in profile, and an aged King with a long beard kneels in front of the Child and holds His left foot in his hand. The other two kings holding cups in their right hands stand in front of a column in the middle. One faces the front, and doffs his hat. The other, a richly-dressed negro, has his back towards the viewer. Further to the right a retainer stands beside a horse, Behind it is another horse ridden by a man with a shield and a banner, and a third man stands gazing back towards a star with a streaming tail in the sky on the left. Below it is a castle, and another is on a hill rising up behind the retainers and horses. In the foreground to left there is a fragment of broken column, and to right a small heap of stones and a low wall Gilding is used sparingly for the halos of the Holy Family, a chain round the neck of the man doffing his hat, the star, and the lower end of a staff or sword scabbard at centre. In a gilt-metal rectangular moulded frame with a rosette in the middle of each side, and a stud in each corner
Limoges, France
C.1840-80

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The Adoration of the Magi Limoges Painted enamel Rectangular, slightly convex copper plaque, enamelled en grisaille on a translucent brown ground, and gilded. The reverse has clear counter-enamel, but much of it is covered by a black substance The Virgin is seated on the left holding the Christ Child on her knee. St Joseph stands to the left in profile, and an aged King with a long beard kneels in front of the Child and holds His left foot in his hand. The other two kings holding cups in their right hands stand in front of a column in the middle. One faces the front, and doffs his hat. The other, a richly-dressed negro, has his back towards the viewer. Further to the right a retainer stands beside a horse, Behind it is another horse ridden by a man with a shield and a banner, and a third man stands gazing back towards a star with a streaming tail in the sky on the left. Below it is a castle, and another is on a hill rising up behind the retainers and horses. In the foreground to left there is a fragment of broken column, and to right a small heap of stones and a low wall Gilding is used sparingly for the halos of the Holy Family, a chain round the neck of the man doffing his hat, the star, and the lower end of a staff or sword scabbard at centre. In a gilt-metal rectangular moulded frame with a rosette in the middle of each side, and a stud in each corner Limoges, France C.1840-80

Image data

  • Accession Number: M.53-1904
  • Photograph Copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum
  • Aperture: f/29.0
  • Focal length: 50
  • Camera: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II
  • Photographer name: Andrew Norman
  • Image height: 510 pixels
  • Image width: 760 pixels
  • Processed with: ACD Systems Digital Imaging
  • Filesize: 80.20kB
  • Exposure time: 1/60
  • ISO Speed: 100
  • Fnumber: 29/1
  • Captured: 2006:09:27 22:46:28

Colours in this image

rgb(219,217,208), rgb(33,28,29), rgb(140,121,75), rgb(166,169,174), rgb(98,80,40), rgb(145,147,155), rgb(91,92,99), rgb(110,113,119), rgb(71,71,71), rgb(187,160,94), rgb(180,140,84)

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