1497
oil
panel
From the collection of Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
De geboorte en de aanbidding van de Wijzen is a 1497 oil by Master of Affligem, a Northern Renaissance work, held at Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
This painting depicts a serene scene of the Nativity, with the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph kneeling beside the newborn Jesus. The figures are set against a backdrop of a stone building, with a distant landscape visible through an arched doorway. In the foreground, a group of angels and shepherds gather around the manger, while a king, dressed in ornate robes, approaches the scene. The artist's use of oil paint creates a sense of depth and texture, with the rough stone walls and the soft folds of the clothing standing out. The painting's attention to detail and its use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses strong contrasts of light and dark, add to its visual appeal. To learn more about the artist's use of chiaroscuro, look up the technique of chiaroscuro.
The Master of Affligem or Master of the Joseph Sequence (working c. 1470–1500) was an accomplished painter of the South Netherlandish school, apparently working in Brussels, whose name is not known, but whose hand can…
See the richer artist page
