For the next 10 minutes, we're going to be looking at Jan Gossaert's very
innovative approach to a traditional subject, the adoration of the kings.
Hello, I'm Susan Foister. I'm Deputy Director at the National Gallery,
and I'm going to be talking to you today about Jan Gossaert's Adoration.
This painting, with its breathtaking details, was made by Jan Gossaert
in the early 16th century using oil paints on a large oak panel. It was made as an altarpiece
for the abbey of St Adrian at Geraardsbergen, or Grammont, in what is now Belgium.
It was made for a very wealthy man, Daniel van Boechout, who is probably the man portrayed here,
the grey-haired man kneeling in front of us. He was wealthy enough
to employ the leading painter of his day, Jan Gossaert, and Gossaert was so proud of this
painting that he signed it twice: once on the headdress of the black king
Balthasar, here, and again on the neck of his companion behind.
Before we look at more of Gossaert's astonishing technique, let's learn a bit more about the story here.
It's a Christian story that's told in the New Testament
in the Bible, and it tells of the birth of the baby Jesus, who's shown here,
right in the middle of the painting, with his mother Mary who's wearing this enveloping blue robe.
Behind them to the left is Joseph in a red robe, and right above them is a star.
Now the people crowding here to left and right have been following this star, and the
star has stopped its hovering above Jesus so they know that they've
come to the right place. And to the left and to the right are kings,
the three kings, but not just the kings, they've come with a huge procession
of retinue, to left and to right. Over on the right hand side
you can see there are people that are still coming over the hill,
the procession is such a lengthy one, winding its way
across here and then behind in the centre of the painting.
Crowding in to have a look here and over on the left as well are the shepherds,
who've also heard about the birth of Jesus.
Now, Gossaert draws us into this painting and its detail and its drama
with immense skill and use of space and contrasts. In the foreground,
we're right down at ground level, here, and he's showing us a very decayed
pavement. The stones are broken, there are weeds growing up through them,
and there's a dog here, a scruffy dog who's gnawing at a bone. On the right hand side
there's another dog who's sitting a little bit
aloof from that dog, and Gossaert draws our eye on into the middle of the painting by the perspective
lines of the paving stones in the middle here.
Above Mary and Jesus we can see not the usual stable, but an enormous, decaying palace.
It's built of brick, and there are very elaborate pieces of decoration here,
showing that it was a very very grand building once, but now there
are trees growing up through it and again, it's falling apart.
All of this grandeur is decaying and becoming lost and something new is
happening today. And then at the top of the painting
there's another dimension appearing. There are angels. Gossaert's
drawing our eye through the buildings, up to the sky. The roof has fallen in
and we can start to see angels. They're coming from afar.
They're in the far distance, lining up. They're a little bit like planes
landing, and they're all coming into this central scene. To either side there are two large, very colourful
angels with rainbow wings. And this one, wearing a robe of a special fabric
that alters its colour depending on which angle you look at it. So the angels
are here because something very extraordinary and special has occurred.
Now, Gossaert is also drawing us in with the astonishing use of detail
that he shows to create these figures of the kings. They're wearing the most elaborate
and expensive clothing, in complete contrast to the tiny
naked child. Balthasar here has an extraordinary headdress,
incorporating a crown, there are pearls dripping off the edges
of it all, edged with gold. His robe is lined
with lynx fur. He's wearing really expensive and extraordinary
boots. The leather is so fine that you can see his toes through the feet there.
And then casper on the right, with his gift of gold coins in a gold cup,
is wearing the most beautiful velvet robe. It's lined with very strokable dark fur.
And then the third king Melchior on the far right, well he's wearing all sorts of colours, cloth of gold,
again very very precious details. So these are extraordinarily rich men
who've come to see the baby Jesus here. The kings are all very very richly dressed,
but they're also very human. All the faces are human here, and that's very important for the story
that Gossaert is telling. The king here, he's got grey hair, and Gossaert has also
painted a hairy wart on the side of his face. They're all recognisably human, but their
world has changed. In this moment they've all come from far off to
see this baby here, and this is a moment of enormous change that Gossaert has depicted.
It's a world in which heaven and earth suddenly collide, and it's the moment of the birth of this child.
If you're interested in learning more about our paintings, please click
here or here. Thank you very much for watching, and we'll see you again soon.