page_title: Jan de Beer (painter)
section_title: Adoration of the Magi
hierarchical_section_title: Jan de Beer (painter) / Work / Adoration of the Magi
context_page_description: Jan de Beer, formerly known as the Master of the Milan Adoration was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and glass designer active in Antwerp at the beginning of the 16th century. He is considered one of the most important members of the loose group of painters active in and around Antwerp in the early 16th century referred to as the Antwerp Mannerists. Highly respected in his time, he operated a large workshop with an important output of religious compositions.
context_section_description: The Adoration of the Magi in the Pinacoteca is central to Jan de Beer's oeuvre.  The work was completed in 1515 with the assistance of his thriving workshop. It has been suggested by an art historian that the two wing panels were entrusted by Jan de Beer to the so-called 'Master of Amiens', one of his best students. This theory is not universally accepted.  The external sides of the wing panels depict the Annunciation in grisaille, the prologue of the scenes depicted inside. The work found its way to Venice where it may have been located in the convent of Santa Maria Maddalena delle Covertite alla Giudecca or the church of Santa Maria dei Servi.  The triptych had previously been attributed to Albrecht Dürer, Lucas van Leyden and Herri met de Bles before it was returned to Jan de Beer by Friedländer. 
  The triptych had an important influence on Venetian painting in the 1520s, particularly on the work of Lorenzo Lotto and Girolamo Savoldo.  These Italian artists were especially fascinated by the effects of supernatural light that illuminated de Beer's nocturnal scenes.
  The triptych was made according to the dictates of the 'modern devotion' movement, a religious movement calling for apostolic renewal through genuine pious practices such as humility, obedience and simplicity of life.  The triptych's visual programme was intended to prompt the faithful, through the contemplation of major episodes in the life of the Holy Family, to follow the Christian lifestyle.
  The triptych's three scenes are linked together only by a thematic point of view: the landscape, the light effects and the proportions of the figures are different in the three scenes.  It is because of these differences within the compositional ensemble that the hypothesis was formed of a close collaboration of Jan de Beer with another master, referred to as the Master of Amiens, in the execution of the two side panels.
caption: Adoration of the Magi Triptych
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