The Adoration of the Magi

c. 1510 - c. 1515

Object data

oil on panel

support: height 64.6 cm × width 44.7 cm
painted surface: height 64.3 cm × width 44.2 cm
depth 6.8 cm

Technical notes

The original support consists of two vertically grained oak planks (20.3 and 24.8 cm) transferred onto another panel which consists of two planks as well, and is bevelled at the top and bottom. The original panel has been planed down to 0.2-0.3 cm. The reverse shows vertical plane marks. Dendrochronology has shown that the youngest heartwood ring of the original panel was formed in 1482. The panel could have been ready for use by 1493, but a date in or after 1507 is more likely. The white ground, which shows through the greyish foreground area, must have been applied in the original frame; although the edges are largely retouched, remains of an unpainted edge and barbe are visible at the bottom and on both sides (painted surface: 64.3 x 44.2 cm). The underdrawing in a dry medium, which is visible in some areas with the naked eye, especially in the architecture, could be partly detected with infrared reflectography as well. Where visible, the underdrawing consists of contours around the figures and a few hatchings in the direction of the drapery folds (fig. b) The architecture appears to have been a little more extensively underdrawn with horizontal and vertical lines. The painting technique is linear and precise. For the suggestion of gold, the artist combined gilding (almost completely lost) with yellow paint. The paint was applied rather thickly, and impasto was used to suggest texture, especially for the brocade gown of the kneeling king on the left.

Scientific examination and reports

X-radiography: RMA, no. 25, 2 February 1948
condition report: W. de Ridder / B. Schoonhoven [2], RMA, 15 March 2006
infrared reflectography: M. Wolters / M. Leeflang [2], RKD/RMA, no. RKDG377, 12 April 2006
dendrochronology: P. Klein, RMA, 18 August 2006

Condition

Fair. There is minor abrasion in the background architecture, especially on the right, and in the sky. The Virgin’s cloak may be overpainted. The varnish is uneven and discoloured.

Provenance

….; the dealer J. Goudstikker, Amsterdam, as Meester van Alkmaar;¹…; collection Dominicus Antonius Josephus Kessler (1855-1939) and Mrs A.C.M.H. Kessler-Hülsmann (1868-1947), Kapelle op den Bosch, near Mechelen;² donated, with xx other objects, by Mrs A.C.M.H. Kessler-Hülsmann to the museum, 1940

Object number: SK-A-3324

Credit line: Gift of Mr and Mrs Kessler-Hülsmann, Kapelle op den Bosch

The artist

Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen (Oostzaan c. 1472/77 - Amsterdam 1528/33), workshop of

Van Mander states that Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen was born in Oostzaan, a small village north of Amsterdam, and that he was already an experienced painter with teenage children when Jan van Scorel entered his workshop around 1512. Going by Van Mander’s information that Jacob’s son Dirck died in 1567 at around 70 years of age, meaning that he was born c. 1497, it is assumed that Jacob was born between 1472 and 1477. There is no information about his parents, nor when he moved to Amsterdam or by whom he was trained. Nor is it known when Jacob married his wife Anna. They had four children, at least two of whom were trained by their father: Cornelis Jacobsz, about whom there is no further information, and Dirck Jacobsz, who was best known as a portrait painter. Also according to Van Mander, Jacob Cornelisz’s brother was Cornelis Buys I, who was active as a painter in Alkmaar. The earliest mention of Jacob Cornelisz in Amsterdam is an archival document from 1500 that shows that he bought a house in the Kalverstraat. Since his wife is recorded as a widow on 18 October 1533, and his second house was sold in his absence in the autumn of 1532, it is accepted that he died before the first date, and possibly before the second. In 1526, 1527 and 1528, Egmond Abbey paid him for work on a large retable, so his date of death can be placed somewhere between 1528 and 1533.

Several of the paintings and the bulk of the drawings by Jacob Cornelisz bear his initials I (for Iacob) and A (referring to the city where he worked) and his monogram, which consists of a V and an upside-down W, the latter probably an allusion to the surname War or Warre that he sometimes used.

Most of the 200-odd woodcuts after designs by Jacob Cornelisz are dated between 1507 and 1522, making it easy to follow his development. Only 6 of the 30 or so paintings attributed to him have the monogram, but a good number are dated. The earliest ones with dates are two of 1507 that are attributed to him: the Noli me tangere in Kassel,³ and The Crucifixion in a private collection.⁴ His last known, securely attributed painting dates from 1526 (SK-A-668).

In addition to paintings on canvas and panel and woodcuts there are designs for stained-glass windows and copes, and ceiling paintings. Jacob’s painted oeuvre mostly consists of religious works: large altarpieces, smaller panels for private devotion, and several which appear to have been made for the open market. There are also a few autonomous portraits that are attributed to him. Jacob’s earliest works are craftsman-like and executed in a very laborious technique, looking more as if they were drawn with paint than painted. The choice of subject is traditional. It was only in his later work, undoubtedly influenced by Jan van Scorel, that he transcended the craftsman-like in technique, style and iconography. His large output indicates that he had a sizable workshop with several assistants, including Jan van Scorel and his sons Cornelis Jacobsz and Dirck Jacobsz, and possibly his grandsons Cornelis Anthonisz and Jacob Dirksz as well.

References
Van Mander 1604, fol. 207r-v; Brulliot I, 1832, no. 19; Cohen in Thieme/Becker VII, 1912, pp. 428-30; Steinbart 1922, pp. 2-8; Steinbart 1929, pp. 1-48; Friedländer XII, 1935, pp. 96-111; Steinbart 1937; Hoogewerff III, 1939, pp. 72-143; Bruyn 1966, pp. 149, 160, 161; ENP XII, 1975, pp. 53-64; Van Eeghen 1986, pp. 95-132; Carroll 1987; Miedema II, 1995, pp. 284-93; Carroll in Turner 1996, VII, pp. 868-70; Beaujean in Saur XXI, 1999, pp. 235-38; Meuwissen 2006, pp. 55-81

(Daantje Meuwissen)

Entry

Here, the adoration of the Magi is not taking place in the customary dilapidated stable but in a more architectural setting. The building bears no resemblance to the ruins of King David’s palace, where artists often situated the event, but appears to be a composite of contemporary buildings. In addition to the usual figures of the Christ Child, the Virgin and the three kings there is Joseph in the right middleground, who is being told that there is no room in the inn. To the left of him is a group of soldiers, one of whom appears to be based on a portrait of Julius Caesar engraved by Daniel Hopfer (c. 1470-1536), possibly in order to give the scene a more historical look (fig. a).⁵

The panel was thought to be a work by the Master of Alkmaar when it was acquired in 1940 on the evidence of perceived similarities to the Adoration of the Magi triptych that is attributed to him (SK-C-1364), but it is more likely to have been made by an assistant in the workshop of Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen. The figures are not the Master of Alkmaar’s short, stocky types, but are taller and adopt more elegant poses. In contrast to the master’s distinctively angular heads with long noses and pronounced almond-shaped eyes, the ones in this painting have rounder faces and look a little doll-like. There are also similarities to the work of Jacob Cornelisz from a technical point of view, particularly in the distinctive brushwork, which consists mainly of short parallel brushstrokes and dark contour lines, which are especially apparent in the face of the young soldier wearing armour on the left. Although it was difficult to make out the underdrawing with infrared reflectography, where it is visible it consists of contour lines, with short hatchings in the shaded areas in the direction of the folds (fig. b). This drawing manner is consistent with the studio practice of Jacob Cornelisz, although his own lively, almost chaotic hand is not immediately recognisable here.

Although the panel does not measure up to Jacob Cornelisz’s Nativity Altarpiece of 1512 in Naples,⁶ the painting technique is very similar and the Amsterdam panel can be dated c. 1510-15 for that reason. At that time there were several assistants active in his workshop, among them his sons Cornelis Jacobsz and Dirck Jacobsz, as well as Jan van Scorel. It is unclear, as yet, to what extent one of them was responsible for this Adoration of the Magi.

(Daantje Meuwissen)

Collection catalogues

1976, p. 629, no. A 3324 (as circle of Master of Alkmaar)

Citation

D. Meuwissen, 2010, 'workshop of Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen, The Adoration of the Magi, c. 1510 - c. 1515', in J.P. Filedt Kok (ed.), Early Netherlandish Paintings, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.9045

(accessed 22 September 2024 00:57:45).

Figures

fig. b Detail of the infrared reflectogram assembly of SK-A-3324, showing the folds in one of the king’s dress (© Stichting RKD)

fig. a Daniel Hopfer, 'Bust of Julius Caesar', c. 1520. Engraving, 95 x 63 mm. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett

Detail of the infrared reflectogram assembly of SK-A-3324, showing the folds in one of the king’s dress (© Stichting RKD)