Adoration of the Magi, tapestry

This tapestry is the separately woven bottom part of a two-part composition entitled The birth and death of Christ. This piece exemplifies a revival of early Renaissance tradition in the second half of the nineteenth century. The top two-third of the compositions of this kind usually depicts a dramatic event, in contrast to the smaller bottom part, where there is a scene of a more lyric nature – usually in the style of contemporary genre painting. In this case, Rippl-Rónai placed the scene of the Golgota above that of the Adoration of the Three Magi. In the latter scene, behind the wooden columns dividing the composition, the interior of a simple peasant room appears. Mary is in the centre, holding the child. Her figure is enclosed by the kings on the right. Animals peep in on the left, and on the right there is a plain wooden bed, covered with a blanket - the only furniture of the room. The figures and the objects are contoured with a thick, continuous line. The light blue, green, pink and yellow surfaces, the richness of lines, and the simple, yet vividly coloured flower border create a typical Art Nouveau picture. The atmosphere of the scene, the everyday interpretation of wonder and the use of purple shades are also characteristic features of the pieces by the Nabis group. An exemplar of the whole tapestry, consisting of the two scenes, belongs to the collection of the Hungarian National Gallery.