The Adoration of the Magi

The theme of The Adoration of the Magi comes from the gospel of St Matthew. However, the presentation of the wise men as kings is a later development in Christian tradition and became widespread from the twelfth century onwards. The gifts offered by the wise men have a symbolic meaning: gold refers to Christ’s kingship, myrrh to his human nature and incense to his divine nature. The Master of the Prelate Mur belonged to the school of Aragon and worked as a painter around the middle of the fifteenth century. The use of gold relief, which was very typical of earlier Spanish panel painting, is limited here to the goblets the magi present as gifts and a few decorative motifs on the clothing.