The Adoration of the Kings

The painter, José Juárez, the son of Luis Juárez and grandfather of Nicolás and Juan Rodríguez Juárez, learned his trade at his father’s side. The stylistic changes that can be discerned in his work suggest, as some experts believe, that he may have traveled to Spain to finish his education. In reality, his work was very much influenced by that of the Sevillian painter, Sebastián López de Arteaga. Juárez was famous as a painter by 1645, though it was without a doubt in the 1650's that he reached his peak. In this painting, Juárez regales us with a highly expressive and intense chiaroscuro technique, composed of bright colors and a painstaking handling of faces with well defined features, in addition to the texture of the fabrics and the quality of the jewelry, which he liked to paint in great detail. The scene is an epiphany, consisting of the first time the Incarnation is made manifest to humankind. In token of their devotion, the wise astrologers or kings from the East offered the Savior three gifts: gold befitting a king, incense befitting God, and myrrh in allusion to Christ’s humanity and the sacrifice He would have to undergo in order to bring redemption. This work passed to the MUNAL from the San Diego Viceregal Painting Gallery in the year 2000.