‘Another Magus’ – This is Melchior. I know this, because we have met Balthazar already, and tomorrow we will meet Casper – both of their names are included on the painting. Melchior’s is not, but by a process of elimination… He is arguably the most stylishly dressed of the three, but I make that assertionContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 18”
Author Archives: drrichardstemp
An Advent Calendar – 17
‘…and his servants‘ – Every good king should have his retinue, but how many followers do you need? ‘What need you five and twenty, ten, or five?’ argues Goneril in Act 2, Scene 4 of Shakespeare’s King Lear. Her sister Regan goes further, ‘What need one?’, to which Lear’s response is straightforward: ‘O, reason notContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 17”
An Advent Calendar – 16
‘…his hat…’ – A magus should have a hat, I suppose, and any good king should have a crown. This, I would say, is the latter – or, maybe, both. A crown, in this context, is defined as ‘A circular ornamental headdress worn by a monarch as a symbol of authority, usually made of orContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 16”
An Advent Calendar – 15
‘A Magus…‘ – ‘We Three Kings of Orient…’ aren’t in the bible. What it says in Matthew 2:1 is, ‘Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem’. This is all it says – ‘wise men’ – notContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 15”
An Advent Calendar – 14
More Shepherds So, the Shepherds who were in the foreground yesterday are in the middle ground today – and those in the background seem even further away. Everything is relative. And further forward, we see four more shepherds. We also see the red column supporting the capital carved with the relief of Abraham and IsaacContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 14”
An Advent Calendar – 13
‘Shepherds’ – This is the first of two days of Shepherds. Today I’m not interested in the two in the foreground – well, the foreground of this detail, anyway, they are quite a way back in the painting. Leaning over the wooden fence, we can tell they are shepherds because they are poorly dressed, withContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 13”
An Advent Calendar – 12
‘Herod’s Men?’ – We’re quite a long way away here, looking off into the distance where the perspective makes things appear far smaller. Well, the linear perspective does. The aerial, or atmospheric, perspective makes things appear paler. The dust and mist in the air – and the air itself – knocks the light out ofContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 12”
An Advent Calendar – 11
‘A Hidden Angel’ – For years I told people that this person peering through a doorway – or, at least, a gap in the wall – was a self portrait (I was going to type ‘a self portrait of the artist’ – but of whom else could it be a self portrait?) I said this,Continue reading “An Advent Calendar – 11”
An Advent Calendar – 10
‘The Ass’ – Surely, I can hear you saying, surely there is biblical authority for the ass in a painting of Christ’s birth? It’s always there! How else would they have got to Bethlehem when, ‘there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed’ (Luke 2:10)? Well, it doesn’tContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 10”
An Advent Calendar – 9
‘A Dove’ – Not just any dove, of course, it is the Holy Spirit. And this is a remarkably rare sighting of it in the Nativity. I can’t, off the top of my head, think of another example, although apparently there are a few, particularly in paintings from Antwerp in the early 16th Century. ItContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 9”
