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The Adoration of the Christ Child

Follower of Jan Joest of Kalkar German
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 537
The fourteenth-century mystic Saint Bridget of Sweden recounted Christ's birth after experiencing a vision. The "great and ineffable light" she described as emanating from the Child is the most compelling feature of this picture. The portrayal of this divine splendor allowed painters to convey the mystical aura of the event and to experiment with dramatic lighting effects. Drawings and numerous paintings of the subject suggest that a lost work by Hugo van der Goes was the source of the composition. A variation on the theme, produced by a different workshop, also belongs to the Museum (Robert Lehman Collection).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Adoration of the Christ Child
  • Artist: Follower of Jan Joest of Kalkar (Netherlandish, active ca. 1515)
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: Overall 41 x 28 1/4 in. (104.1 x 71.8 cm); painted surface 41 x 27 5/8 in. (104.1 x 70.2 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982
  • Object Number: 1982.60.22
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

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Venus and Cupid, Lucas Cranach the Elder German, Oil on wood
Venus and Cupid
Lucas Cranach the Elder
ca. 1525–27
Christ Blessing the Children, Lucas Cranach the Younger and Workshop German, Oil on beech
Christ Blessing the Children
Lucas Cranach the Younger and Workshop
ca. 1545–50
The Martyrdom of Saint Barbara, Lucas Cranach the Elder German, Oil on linden
The Martyrdom of Saint Barbara
Lucas Cranach the Elder
ca. 1510
Christ and the Adulteress, Lucas Cranach the Younger and Workshop German, Oil on beech
Christ and the Adulteress
Lucas Cranach the Younger and Workshop
ca. 1545–50
Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, Albrecht Dürer German, Oil on linden
Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
Albrecht Dürer
probably 1519

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