The Adoration of the Kings”, Jacopo Bassano, 1542, National Galleries Of Scotland.
Have you ever spent some time with this painting? It is in the National Gallery of Scotland. It was painted by Jacobo Bassano, an artist from the Veneto, whose works are now to be found in most major gallery collections. In my view this is his best work and there is free and easy access to it here in the centre of Edinburgh. As in so many other paintings the three Kings (or Magi) present their gifts to the Holy Family in what seems like a very colourful and busy scene. Once you begin to look, the care taken by Bassano in this composition becomes evident. If you cover the left side with your hand now, you see only the kings before the Christ child and behind If you take away your hand you see that the kings are at the head of a large retinue and the group of figures curves upwards to the right; their curved outline suggests that there are a great more many to the right and unseen. The curve is echoed by the steep hill behind. In contrast to their Masters, these attendants on the right seem largely indifferent to child and his parents. This speaks of the singularity of faith which graced these visitors from afar. Their clothes form an array of beautiful blocks of colour carefully arranged to draw the eye to the most handsome and youngest of the royals. He is in the centre of the very painting and is certainly the best dressed of them all. He wears a beautiful and well-tailored garment. The green and gold are the perfect match for his reddish colouring. This young man has good manners too. He bends his knee before the mother of Christ. His gaze is fixed upon Mary. The artist follows the established tradition that the Magi of Mathew’s Gospel were three in number and royal, one from each of the three known continents, and so representing all the nations of the earth. Bassano also follows the convention that the three were young, middle-aged and old represent the three ages of man. Actually, Bassano copied many of the elements in the painting from the works of other artists, which would have been known to him from prints. There are some lovely elements and the customary allusions to the child’s future. The fig tree which grows up beside Mary may refer to the tree of the cross, but, equally, it may signify the fruit of Mary’s womb. The delicate columbine (from the Latin columba meaning “dove”), or aquilegia, growing at Mary’s feet is often used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. But at the centre of it all is this contemporary rich young man. He stares at the mother and her child. His hand almost touches her hand. Everything about this painting makes it clear to the viewer that it is about the handsome young man alone and not the other two. The other two Kings are stock figures, but this is a portrait of a young patrician. His handsome face dominates the whole picture. He must have been really important in this commission, but of him, we know very little. A recently discovered ledger from the Bassani workshop records this commission and the deposit for it in 1542. It was paid by a Venetian patrician called Jacopo Ghisi. Indeed there was such a man with that name who was living in Venice at that time. He would have been 27 in 1542. However, the ledgers also record that in that same year Bassano returned the sum to him. It is not known why. Now look again. Bassano’s young man shows great deference to Mary, but is it faith? Matthew says they fell prostrate and here the oldest one is prostrate. But I can’t imagine this young man doing so. Perhaps, it is about his lack of faith? It seems to me that it is about his pride and his lack is humility. With one hand he offers the gift, but the other hand remains on the hilt of his sword. He does fall prostrate. He does not even kneel. Rather he merely bows as a courtier might do before royalty. Bassano puts him between the Holy family with the other Kings and the indifferent crowd to the right. But to which group does he belong. We see the gift in his hands but can we surmise what is lacking in his heart. Maybe this is what the painting is about: the recognition of Christ, and the place we give him in our hearts. Perhaps he is like the rich young man from later in the gospel (Mt 19:16- 22), who asked what should he do to have eternal life The gospel reads: “Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.” It is notable that Mark and Luke say that the young man asked what must he do to inherit eternal life, but in Matthew’s version eternal life is seem as something he must have, and not something he must receive. Looking at Bassano’s portrait, you don’t get the feeling that this young man will return by another way. Rather you would expect him to turn around to his retinue and having seen the holy child get on with things. Was our old friend Bassano on to something which is really important for anyone who seeks eternal life? I can see faith in Christ as something to be acknowledged, respected, as an important addition to my own agenda, but not as something to be embraced in full nor as something to be received in humility. The young man poses a question for each of us. Is this child really the Saviour of all, and do I render unto him, not just a sincere and conventional allegiance, but true worship?
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