Triptych of the Adoration of the Magi by Hans Memling

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1470-1472. Oil on panel, 95 x 271 cm.

Comprising three panels, the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi and the Presentation in the Temple, this painting is earlier than the triptych on the same subject painted by Memling for Jan Floreins in 1479. It is clearly influenced by Van der Weyden, as are other works by the artist. In this work, the unified space represented in the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi is noteworthy. It was an innovation to place scenes from the Epiphany and the Birth under the same architecture represented from different points of view. Made in Bruges, this triptych shows how much its author was indebted to the van Eyck brothers from the time he settled in that city in 1465. This is clear in the importance of vertical lines in the composition and in its monumental character.

The triptych belonged to Carlos V, who assigned it to the chapel of the Royal Lodgings in Aceca, near Toledo.