The Adoration of the Magi

Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen's Adoration of the Magi from 1517 shows this Amsterdam painter at the height of his powers, combining the Flemish altarpiece tradition with the distinctive Amsterdam manner he developed from contact with multiple Northern European regional schools. Cornelisz was the dominant figure in early sixteenth-century Amsterdam painting, his workshop producing altarpieces, portraits, and woodcut designs that established the city's visual culture before its transformation by the Reformation. The Adoration subject gave him opportunity for the elaborate scene he favored: architectural settings, exotic costumes, numerous attendant figures, and the rich material world of Flemish painting at its most descriptive. His influence on subsequent Amsterdam painting was considerable, and he trained or influenced many of the painters who would continue the tradition in the city's developing cultural life.

The richly detailed costumes of the Magi and the intricate architectural ruins demonstrate van Oostsanen's characteristic decorative approach, with precise Northern technique and elaborate surface patterning.