Skip to main content

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

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

About this image

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)

Citation for print

This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-2855313114 Accessed: 2024-11-17 18:47:44

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-2855313114 |title= |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-17 18:47:44|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/images/media-136158

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa20/M_53_1904.jpg"
        alt="The Adoration of the Magi"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info"></figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...