She holds him on her lap.
Bible in art · Matthew
The Adoration of the Magi
Lucas van Leyden · 1513
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Lucas van Leyden engraved this large plate, 43 cm wide, in 1513. It is crowded with figures, each with its own face and costume, set in a ruined building.
Mary sits at the left with the Child on her lap, and Joseph stands behind with his hat. One of the Magi kneels before them. The others wait with gifts — a covered cup, a box — and a crowd of their followers with spears looks on.
From the text
- They saw the Child with His mother Mary and fell down and worshiped Him (Matthew 2:11)
- Gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11)
- The star stopped over the place where the Child was (Matthew 2:9)
The artist’s own
- The Magi as three kings with a large retinue — tradition, not the text, makes them kings and counts three
- Turbans, tall hats and feathers for travellers from the East
- A ruined building of stone and timber
Details
Mary and the Child
The kneeling king
The eldest kneels before the Child.
Gifts
A richly dressed king holds a covered cup.
The followers
A crowd with spears and turbans behind a wall.
Lucas van Leyden, Netherlandish, c. 1489/94–1533. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.5620) · Engraving on laid paper · NGA Open Access: "Images of these works are available free of charge for any use, commercial or non-commercial, under Creative Commons Zero (CC0)." (NGA open data: published_images.csv openaccess = 1)