The Adoration of the Kings

Baltasar de Echave Orio, a native of the village of Zumaya, in the ancestral estate of Aizarnazábal, in the Spanish province of Guipúzcoa, is believed to have been born around 1558 and probably reached New Spain in early 1580. He is known as Echave the Elder, having trained up one of the most important dynasties of painters in New Spain, the Echaves. In 1582 he married Isabel de Ibía, daughter of the painter and gilder Francisco de Zumaya, who was also his teacher and with whom he worked, in 1590, on the main and Saint Michael altarpieces in the old Puebla cathedral. He received commissions from various religious orders and his works adorned the cloisters and altarpieces of numerous churches. The Adoration of the Kings was commissioned by the Jesuit Order and doubtless decorated one or other altarpieces in the Casa Profesa (the seat of the Jesuit Order in colonial México). He addressed this topic on various occasions, as witnessed by the altarpieces in the Tlalmanalco Franciscan church and Saint Bernadino’s church in Xochimilco. In this large scale work, the Virgin Mary can be seen, together with the infant Jesus, at the center of the composition inside a rustic structure reminiscent of the manger. The work portrays the adoration of the Wise Men. In the foreground, we can see the kneeling Melchior, whose opulent elegant attire has been rendered with masterly detail by the painter, kissing the Christ child’s feet. The painstaking detail reminds us of the Flemish school. In the distant background, Caspar can also be seen kneeling, with Balthazar standing behind him, while a crowd is drawing near to witness the scene. This work became part of the collection of the San Carlos Academy. It was also chosen in 1866 to adorn the palace of the Emperor, Maximillian, for the Feast of Corpus Christi, and later shown at the New Orleans Universal Exhibition in 1884. In 1964, it became part of the collection of the newly inaugurated San Diego Viceregal Painting Gallery, where it was on view for more than thirty years. In the year 2000, it became part of the MUNAL collection and opens our tour of the latter.