Masterpiece of the Month

The Adoration of the Kings (1564)
Pieter bruegel The Elder (c.1535 - 1569). Oil on oak, 111 x 83 cm. The National Gallery, London.

 An old manger, its beams bent with age, with a donkey inside eating hay, and the Virgin Mary at the centre with her characteristic blue mantle... But isn't there something wrong in this Nativity scene?  Why does baby Jesus recoil into his mother's lap?  And why are there soldiers at a time of peace and joy?

  Bruegel lived in a plague-ridden, war torn Europe, and many of his paintings reflect this dark time, denouncing its atrocities and injustice - the soldiers crowding on the left may represent the Spanish occupation of the Netherlands (the pointed halberds echo Velazquez's The Surrender of Breda), but may also act as a warning of Christ's Passion, brought about by greed. The same greed shown in the helmeted knight's curious eyes, or the surprise of the man with the spectacles; even Joseph (looking more like a drunk, tramp Santa Claus) has fallen to gossip and offers a distrustful, sideways glance to the Kings. Meanwhile, The Wise Men seem oblivious of it, offering their gifts the newborn Saviour, who tries to hide at the sight of what looks like myyrh, used for embalming bodies - once more, Bruegel references the Passion.

Or has Jesus sensed the greed, envy and jealousy He causes? Greed, by the way, that continues to fuel our Christmas spirit...

                                                               

 Bruegel's grotesque caricatures appear even in the holiest of moments, highlighting the lowest insincts of humanity.