PIETER COECKE VAN AELST (Aalst, 1502 – Brussels, 1550) - The Adoration of the Magi (c. 1540)

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Feb 25, 2026

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• Lot Description
  Oil on panel. Dimensions: 90 x 106 cm. Triptych composed of three panels depicting scenes from the childhood of Christ: the central panel, the Adoration of the Magi; the left panel, the Adoration of the Shepherds; and the right panel, the Circumcision. The main scene unfolds within an architectural setting with classical resonances, featuring columns and pillars that evoke Pieter Coecke van Aelst's fascination with ancient architecture, a result of his time in Italy between 1521 and 1525. A pupil of Bernard van Orley, painter to the Habsburg court, Coecke assimilated both the Flemish style and Italian Renaissance principles, achieving a personal synthesis that is clearly evident in this work. In the central panel, the Virgin Mary holds the Child while the Magi kneel, offering their gifts. The richness of the fabrics, the variety of human figures, and the meticulous architectural setting underscore the solemn nature of the episode. The interest in spatial construction and ornamental details—porphyry columns, decorated capitals, monumental arches—reflects the artist's humanist taste and his profound admiration for Antiquity. The side wings complement the narrative with intimate and devotional episodes. In the Adoration of the Shepherds, the scene focuses on the contemplation of the moment, while in the Circumcision, the architectural space once again takes center stage, organizing the composition and lending monumentality to the rite. Pieter Coecke addressed the theme of the Adoration of the Magi on several occasions, with compositional variations preserved, among other places, in the Château d'Écouen and the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Valenciennes, confirming the artist's interest in this motif and his ability to reinterpret it with different spatial solutions. A certificate from René Millet, Paris, January 30, 2009 (copy), is attached. The triptych underwent a technical examination in September 2018 by conservator-restorer Claudia Geissmann (FH Bern). According to ...
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