The Adoration of the Magi

Artist Simon Claasz. van Waterlant II North Netherlandish, active in Antwerp 1502–1524; active in Haarlem 1524–1556

Datecirca 1530

MediumOil (with tempera?) on panel

Dimensions34 1/8 x 24 in. (86.7 x 61 cm)
Frame: 49 1/2 x 31 in. (125.7 x 78.7 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the State of North Carolina

Object number52.9.33

On View

On view

Label TextVan Waterlant was part of a north Netherlandish family that produced three generations of painters during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The Gospel of Matthew tells of wise men offering gifts to the infant Jesus but gives neither the number of individuals nor their origins. In medieval literature and art, the Magi are depicted as three reverent kings from far corners of the known world, including Africa. Trade routes, diplomatic excursions, and increased contact between Europe and Africa in the medieval period led to more images of people of African descent in art, particularly in scenes of this subject.
[L. Humphrey, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2022]ProvenanceCreated Haarlem, Netherlands, ca. 1525–1550. René della Faille (1830–1902), Waerloos Antwerp [1]. Sold to NCMA, 1952.

[1] René della Faille’s collections were sold in a series of posthumous auctions through Frederik Muller & Cie, Amsterdam between 1903-05. The July 7, 1903 sale of old paintings does not seem to include the Van Waterlant. The closest possible match (in size) is no. 35, La nativité, by an unknown, 16th-century German Master, 88 x 66 cm. This is an inconclusive match. No. 41 in this catalogue also notes a number of others from diverse schools that will sell individually. No other catalogues of old master paintings from Della Faille’s collection have been identified.
Published ReferencesH. Hymans, ed., Livre des Peintres de Karel van Mander (Paris, 1885), 111.

W. R. Valentiner, Catalogue of Paintings: Including Three Sets of Tapestries (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1956), cat. no. 41, illus. (b-w).

Dennis A. Greene, M.D., "Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh and Medicine," North Carolina Medical Journal 54, no. 12 (December 1993), 620-21, illus. (color) cover.

The Carolina Journal of Pharmacy 74, no. 10 (November/December 1994), 5-7, illus. (color) cover (reprinted from December 1993 issue of North Carolina Medical Journal)].

Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, "The Masters of Alkmaar and Hand X: The Haarlem Painters of the van Waterlant Family," Supplement to Wallraf-Richartz Jahrbuch 60 (1999), 119, illus. (b-w) 117.
Exhibition HistoryRotterdam, Netherlands, 1936.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, “Reflections on Light: Works from the NCMA Collection,” September 9, 2020–August 15, 2021.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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