The Monforte Altarpiece is an oil-on-oak-panel painting of the Adoration of the Magi by the Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes, now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany. The altarpiece was originally the central panel of a triptych with movable wings that are now lost; these were probably painted on both sides. This is shown by the hinges remaining in the original frame. Old copies of the work show the Nativity and Circumcision of Jesus on the wing panels. The central panel has been reduced in size at the top. In 2023, a detailed reconstruction of the missing top portion was completed for an exhibition on van der Goes' work at the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. A detailed description of the process and a photograph of the result are included in an article by museum curator Dr. Stephan Kemperdick.
Monforte Altarpiece
Detail of the second king
The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, lay before him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and worship him. It is related in the Bible by Matthew 2:11: "On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another path".
Gerard David, Adoration of the Kings, National Gallery, London, circa 1515
Adoration of the Magi, Gentile da Fabriano, 1423
Adoration of the Child Jesus by the three wise men or Magi; Sarcophagus relief (4th century), Vatican
Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi, mid-15th century