JAN MIEL (Beveren-Waas, 1599 - Turin, 1663) Adoration of the Magi Oil on canvas, 72.3X59.7 cm Provenance: Lord Belper Collection London, Christie's, 30 July 1976, lot 16 (as Jan Miel) Private collection Bibliography: https://rkd.nl/imageslite/535931 (as Jan Miel) The painting expresses the style characteristics of the master, not only in its adherence to the modes of Roman painting, but also in the drafting and typology of the figures. Documented in Rome from 1636, but likely to have arrived there as early as 1633, Miel belongs to that generation influenced by Pieter van Laer, who spread the fashion of depicting daily life in the Eternal City. However, the importance of the canvas under examination is its departure from the bamboozling genre, offering us a sacred scene in a Caravaggesque style in which we can appreciate the care with which the artist describes the different protagonists, their gestures and, in particular, the scenic setting in tune with Viviano Codazzi's architecture. These clues suggest it was painted in the fifth decade, before the move to Turin in 1658 at the invitation of Duke Charles Emmanuel II, who had already commissioned Miel to paint the Madonna presenting the Child to St. Anthony of Padua, painted for the Cathedral of Chieri (1651). In our case, the canvas shows more scenic elaboration than the one in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Palazzo Barberini. Reference bibliography: A. Busiri Vici, Works by Jan Miel at the Court of Savoy, in Bollettino della Società Piemontese di Archeologia e di Belle Arti, 1958-1959, pp. 94-118 L. Trezzani, Jan Miel, in G. Briganti, L. Trezzani, L. Laureai, I Bamboccianti. Pittori della vita quotidiana a Roma nel Seicento, Rome 1983, pp. 91-131 A. Busiri Vici, Addenda alle scene popolari romane di Jan Miel, in: B. Jatta (ed.), Andrea Busiri Vici d'Arcevia, Scritti d'Arte, Rome 1990