Adoration of the Magi Triptych

Hans Memling settled in Bruges around 1465, when the city was one of the richest trading hubs in northern Europe, full of foreign merchants who wanted small, jewel-like devotional paintings for their homes and chapels. He made this Adoration of the Magi triptych in the early 1470s, closely following a famous altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden, in whose Brussels workshop Memling had probably trained. The central panel shows the three kings presenting their gifts, flanked by the Nativity and the Presentation in the Temple, all rendered with the crisp architectural detail Bruges patrons prized. When the wings are folded shut they show an Ecce Homo and a grieving Virgin, added later by another hand for private prayer.