Adoration of the Magi
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash; traces of transfer
Dimensions
20.3 × 15.9 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Whitehill Art Purchase Endowment Fund
Accession Number
2019.232
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
The drawing is a print design made to be translated to a copperplate in the city of Antwerp in the late 16th century. De Vos’s closely cropped composition brings the three magi as well as Joseph into close contact with the seated Virgin and Child. The elaborate vessels carried by the magi, including a footed nautilus cup, a silver dish, and what could be a coconut cup, are the types of exotic treasures that would have been collected by Antwerp’s wealthy inhabitants signifying their contact with ...