04 works, Today, December 29th, is The Holy Innocents' day, or The Massacre in Gaza, their story, illustrated #361

Angelo Visconti, (1829–1861)

The Massacre of the Innocents, c. 1860 - 1861

Oil on canvas

Height: 100.50 mm (3.95 in); Width: 74.50 mm (2.93 in)

Cassioli Museum, Asciano, Italy

Angelo Viscónti (1829–1861) was an Italian painter, mainly depicting turbulent scenes including historic and sacred subjects.

He was born in Siena and trained under Luigi Mussini. In 1854-1855, he won a traveling stipend along with Amos Cassioli. He moved to live with Cassioli in Rome in 1858.[1] He suffered an epileptic convulsion while in the Tiber River in Rome, and drowned. More on Angelo Viscónti

Herod “the Great,” king of Judea, was unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Hence he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. He was a master politician and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. He killed his wife, his brother, and his sister’s two husbands, to name only a few.

Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts, and warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. 

Jacopo Tintoretto, (1519–1594)

The Massacre of the Innocents, between 1582 and 1587

Height: 422 cm (13.8 ft); Width: 546 cm (17.9 ft)

Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice, Italy

Tintoretto; born Jacopo Comin, (October, 1518 – May 31, 1594) was an Italian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso. His work is characterized by its muscular figures, dramatic gestures, and bold use of perspective in the Mannerist style, while maintaining color and light typical of the Venetian School.

 

In his youth, Tintoretto was also known as Jacopo Robusti as his father had defended the gates of Padua in a way that others called robust, against the imperial troops during the War of the League of Cambrai (1509–1516). His real name "Comin" has only recently been discovered by Miguel Falomir, the curator of the Museo del Prado, Madrid, and was made public on the occasion of the retrospective of Tintoretto at the Prado in 2007. More on Tintoretto

Peter Paul Rubens, (1577–1640)

Massacre of the Innocents, between 1611 and 1612

Oil on oak wood

Height: 142 cm (55.9 in); Width: 182 cm (71.6 in)

Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario, Canada 

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish Baroque painter. A proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, Rubens is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.

In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England.  More Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

William Holman Hunt,  (1827–1910)

The Triumph of the Innocents, circa 1883

Oil on canvas

Height: 1,562 cm (17 yd); Width: 254 cm (100 in)

Tate Britain 

Hunt began painting this subject while on a visit to the Holy Land in the 1870s. He originally intended to show just the Holy Family, but he later decided to add the martyred innocents. The Holy Family are surrounded by the spirits of the children slain by Herod. Hunt wanted the bubbles, or ‘airy globes’ which accompany the procession, to convey a sense of the waves of ‘the streams of eternal life’. More on this work

William Holman Hunt OM (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid color, and elaborate symbolism. These features were influenced by the writings of John Ruskin and Thomas Carlyle, according to whom the world itself should be read as a system of visual signs. For Hunt it was the duty of the artist to reveal the correspondence between sign and fact. Of all the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Hunt remained most true to their ideals throughout his career. He was always keen to maximize the popular appeal and public visibility of his works. More on William Holman Hunt

An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him to take Jesus and his mother into Egypt

In medieval England children were reminded of the mournfulness of the day by being whipped in bed in the morning; this custom survived into the 17th century. More on Feast of the Holy Innocents

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10 works, Today, January 2nd, is Saint Seraphim of Sarov's day, his story, illustrated #365

Unknown artist

Saint Seraphim
Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1754– 1833), born Prokhor Moshnin is one of the most renowned Russian saints and venerated both in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. He is generally considered the greatest of the 19th-century startsy, elders. 

Seraphim was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1903. Alongside his veneration in the Catholic calendar, Pope John Paul II also referred to him as a Saint

In 1777, at the age of 19, he joined the Sarov monastery as a novice. He was officially took his monastic vows in 1786 and given the religious name of Seraphim. Shortly afterwards, he was ordained a monastic deacon. In 1793, he was ordained as a monastic priest and became the spiritual leader of the Diveyevo Convent, which has since come to be known as the Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent.

Unknown iconographe

The Virgin Mary tells Saint Seraphim began admitting pilgrims to his hermitage

I have no further description, at this time

Soon after this, Seraphim retreated to a log cabin in the woods outside Sarov monastery and led a solitary lifestyle as a hermit for 25 years. During this time his feet became swollen to the point that he had trouble walking. Sarov's eating and fasting habits became more strict. At first he ate bread obtained from the monastery and vegetables from his garden, then only vegetables. For three years, he ate only grass.

Unknown iconographer

Thieves who beat Saint Seraphim mercilessly

Sarov Monastery

I have no further description, at this time

Unknown iconographer

Seraphim of Sarov had a hunched back for the rest of his life

I have no further description, at this time

One day, while chopping wood, Seraphim was attacked by a gang of thieves who beat him mercilessly with the handle of his own axe. He never resisted, and was left for dead. The robbers never found the money they sought, only an icon of the Theotokos, the Virgin Mary, in his hut. Seraphim had a hunched back for the rest of his life. However, at the thieves' trial he pleaded to the judge for mercy on their behalf.

Unknown iconographer

Seraphim spent 1,000 successive nights on a rock

I have no further description, at this time

Unknown iconographer

Seraphim spent continuous prayer with his arms raised to the sky

I have no further description, at this time

After this incident Seraphim spent 1,000 successive nights on a rock in continuous prayer with his arms raised to the sky, a feat of asceticism deemed miraculous by the Eastern Orthodox Church, especially considering the pain from his injuries.

Unknown Russian artist, Active in the 20th century

Saint Seraphim feeding a bear outside of his hermitage

Oil on canvas

33 cm x 39 cm. 

Private collection

In 1815, in obedience to a reputed spiritual experience that he attributed to the Virgin Mary, Seraphim began admitting pilgrims to his hermitage as a confessor. 

Unknown iconographer

Hundreds of pilgrims per day visited Saint Seraphim

Seraphim-Diveyevo Convent.

He soon became immensely popular due to his reputation for healing powers and gift of prophecy. Hundreds of pilgrims per day visited him, drawn as well by his ability to answer his guests' questions before they could ask.

Unknown iconographer

Saint Seraphim von Sarov prayed to help his spiritual student Nicholai Motovilov to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit 

I have no further description, at this time

As extraordinarily harsh as Seraphim often was to himself, he was kind and gentle toward others — always greeting his guests with a prostration, a kiss, and exclaiming "Christ is risen!", and calling everyone "My joy." 

Unknown iconographer

Saint Seraphim died while kneeling before an Umilenie icon of the Theotokos

I have no further description, at this time

He died while kneeling before an Umilenie icon of the Theotokos which he called "Joy of all Joys". This icon is kept currently in the chapel of the residence of the Patriarch of Moscow.

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, and 365 Saints, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

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08 works, Today, December 31st, is Saint Columba (known as the patron saint of witches) of Sens' day, her story, illustrated #363

Giovanni Baronzio, (–1362)

Stories from the life of St. Columba, 1345-1350 circa

Tempera on wood

Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan , Italy

Giovanni Baronzio, also known as Giovanni da Rimini, (died before 1362), was an Italian painter who was active in Romagna and the Marche region during the second quarter of the 14th century. Giovanni Baronzio was the eminent representative of the second generation of painters of the school of Rimini. More on Giovanni Baronzio

Columba was born to a noble pagan family in Zaragoza, the northwestern region of Spain. Her original name was probably Eporita, and she was a member of a very influential noble family. Her relatives worshiped the old deities and didn't follow the new religion. Members of her family were some of the most important people related to the Roman Empire. 

Columba fled as a child to Vienne, France and was baptized, receiving the name Columba, meaning "dove" in French. She left Spain for France because she had been told it was where "a more beautiful religion flourished" and because she "had an insurmountable horror of idols", and to avoid being denounced as a Christian. Columba continued to Sens, near Paris in north-central France, where she was martyred in 273.

Pellegrino da San Daniele, (1467–1547)

Detail; Santa Colomba

Parish church of Osoppo,  Province of Udine in the Italy

Madonna with Child enthroned among Saints Peter, Colomba, John the Baptist, Ermacora, Magdalene, Giacomo, Stefano, Sebastiano and five musician angels

Pellegrino da San Daniele (1467–1547) was an Italian painter in the late-Quattrocento and Renaissance styles, active in the Friulian region.

Born at San Daniele del Friuli, he is also known as Martino da Udine. He completed frescoes in the church of San Antonio in the town of San Daniele. He later was strongly influenced by Il Pordenone. Among his pupils were Luca Monverde, Girolamo da Udine, and Sebastiano Florigerio. More on Pellegrino da San Daniele

Specialists in the lives of saints suggest that Columba of Sens is the same woman as Columba of Spain, who lived during the 9th century AD. Columba of Spain is known as the patron saint of witches, a curious notion in and of itself. On the one hand, she acts as an intercessor on behalf of witches, while on the other hand, people go to her to defend themselves against witches.

Giovanni Baronzio, (1343 circa - 1362)

Detail; Colomba before the Emperor, c. 1340s

Tempera on wood

Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan , Italy

See above for Giovanni Baronzio

Aurelian, the Roman emperor (270-275), passed through Sens and put all the Christians there to death. "Alone, Columba found favour in his eyes, such was the nobility and the beauty of her features revealing her high origin". He wanted her to marry his son, but she refused, so he locked her up in a brothel in the town amphitheater. 

Giovanni Baronzio, (1343 circa - 1362)

Detail; St Colomba Saved by a Bear, c. 1340s

Tempera on wood

Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan , Italy

See above for Giovanni Baronzio

Jacques Callot,

St Columba watching a guard being attacked by a bear, in an amphitheater, c. 1632-1635
Etching

British Museum

Jacques Callot, (born March–August 1592, Nancy, France—died March 24, 1635, Nancy), French printmaker who was one of the first great artists to practice the graphic arts exclusively. His innovative series of prints documenting the horrors of war greatly influenced the socially conscious artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.

He learned the technique of engraving in Rome. About 1612 he went to Florence. At that time Medici patronage expended itself almost exclusively in feste, quasi-dramatic pageants, sometimes dealing in allegorical subjects, and Callot was employed to make pictorial records of these mannered, sophisticated entertainments. He succeeded in evolving a naturalistic style while preserving the artificiality of the occasion, organizing a composition as if it were a stage setting and reducing the figures to a tiny scale, each one indicated by the fewest possible strokes. This required a very fine etching technique. His breadth of observation, his lively figure style, and his skill in assembling a large, jostling crowd secured for his etchings a lasting popular influence all over Europe.

He illustrated sacred books, made a series of plates of the Apostles, and visited Paris to etch animated maps of the sieges of La Rochelle and the Île de Ré. In his last great series of etchings, the “small” (1632) and the “large” (1633) The Miseries and Misfortunes of War, he brought his documentary genius to bear on the atrocities of the Thirty Years’ War. Callot is also well known for his landscape drawings in line and wash and for his quick figure studies in chalk. More on Jacques Callot

 Antonio Tempesta

Sts Columba and Mustiola, c. 1570-1591
Etching

Height: 73 millimetres, Width: 118 millimetres

British Museum

Sts Columba and Mustiola; St Mustiola at centre hanging from a frame by her hands tied above her head, and with a stone tied to her feet, with a torturer standing to right scourging her; behind to left, St Columba praying with a bear behind her.

Antonio Tempesta (1555 – 5 August 1630) was an Italian painter and engraver, whose art acted as a point of connection between Baroque Rome and the culture of Antwerp.

He was born and trained in Florence and painted in a variety of styles, influenced to some degree by "Counter-Maniera" or Counter-Mannerism. He enrolled in the Florentine Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in 1576. He was a pupil of Santi di Tito, then of the Flemish painter Joannes Stradanus. He was part of the large team of artists working under Giorgio Vasari on the interior decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

His favourite subjects were battles, cavalcades, and processions. He relocated to Rome, where he associated with artists from the Habsburg Netherlands, which may have led to his facility with landscape painting. More Antonio Tempesta

While Columba was imprisoned, someone tried to rape her, but she was saved by a she-bear. Aurelian was furious and decided to burn the animal and Columba together, but the bear escaped and survived, while a "provincial rain put out the fire". Columba was condemned to death and beheaded near a fountain named d'Azon. Her body was left on the ground after she was killed, but a man named Aubertus, who had prayed to her for the restoration of his sight, took care of her burial.

Giovanni Baronzio, (1343 circa - 1362)

Detail; Beheading of St Colomba c. 1340s

Tempera on wood

Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan , Italy

The Galician version of the legend about the saint says that St Columba was a witch who met Jesus Christ on the road. He told her that she would not enter his kingdom, so she decided to change her life. However, it seems that she remained a witch while being a Christian. This was a common mixture in the early times of Christianity.

Maestro de Villamediana

Martyrdom of St. Columba

Diocesan Museum of Palencia (Spain)

I have no information about this artist!

During the first centuries of Christianity and even medieval times, it was quite common for women who were witches to try to enter safe places like monasteries. These witches weren't what the newly growing religion wanted them to be. They were well educated women, who knew about nature and had skills to help and heal. With the appearance of the new monotheistic religion the tradition of witchcraft lost its place. Many of these women wanted to continue cultivating the ancient wisdom no matter what, so they joined safe places where they could plant their herbs and spend time with books – in the convents of the nuns. More on Columba of Sens

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Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

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06 works, Today, December 30th, is Saint Sabinus of Spoleto's day, his story, illustrated #362

Unknown artist

Saint Sabinus of Spoleto, in the late 12th century

Premonstratensian Abbey of Windberg (near Regensburg), Germany

According to legend, Venustian, governor of Etruria and Umbria, had Saint Sabinus of Spoleto, (died c. 300), a Bishop,  and his deacons, St. Exuperantius, Marcellus, Venustian, and companions, arrested in Assisi. Diocletian's order required all Christians to sacrifice to the gods or be put to death, with their estates seized for the state. 

Unknown artist

Saint Sabinus before the governor Venustian

I have no further description, at this time

Venustian mocked Sabinus's faith, accusing him of leading the people to the worship of a dead man. When Sabinus said that Christ rose on the third day, Venustian invited him to do the same thing. 

Cogrossi Carlo

Saint Sabinus had his hands cut off

The Martyrdom of San Savino, late eighteenth century

Fresco

Ivrea, Cathedral

I have not found any information on Cogrossi Carlo

Unknown artist

Passion of SS Sabinus and Cyprian, c.1100

Fresco

Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempte

He had Sabinus's hands cut off. The deacons were in great fear, but Sabinus encouraged them to hold to their faith. They were tied to a torture, severely struck, torn with iron hooks, and suffering from hot fire, and then martyred and buried in Assisi.

Hendrick Terbrugghen

Saint Sabinus was tended by a woman named Serena

St. Sebastian Tended by Irene and her Maid, c. 1625

Oil, canvas

119.4 x 149 cm

Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH, US

Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen (or Terbrugghen) (1588 – 1 November 1629) was a painter at the start of Dutch Golden Age, and a leading member of the Dutch followers of Caravaggio–the so-called Utrecht Caravaggisti. Along with Gerrit van Hondhorst and Dirck van Baburen, Ter Brugghen was one of the most important Dutch painters to have been influenced by Caravaggio. More on Hendrick Jansz ter Brugghen

In prison after the martyrdom of his deacons, he was tended by a woman named Serena. While in prison, he healed a man born blind. Venustian heard of the cure and sought a cure for his own eyes from Sabinus. Sabinus healed the governor and converted him to Christianity. Venustian then sheltered Sabinus. Maximianus Herculius, hearing of this, ordered the tribune Lucius to address the matter. Lucius had Venustian, his wife, and his two sons beheaded at Assisi, and he had Sabinus beaten to death at Spoleto. More on Saint Sabinus of Spoleto

Unknown artist

Vita scene; The martyrdom of St. Sabinus and St. Marcello and St. Exsuperantius of Assisi

Illustration

I have no further description, at this time

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest and my art stores at  deviantart and Aaroko

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08 works, Today, December 28th, is The 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia's day, their story, illustrated #360

Troganov school
Detail; Saint Cyril, c. 17th C

Russian I con

Church-Archaeological Office of the Moscow Theological Academy.

Stroganov School is a conventional name for the last major Russian icon-painting school, which thrived under the patronage of the rich Stroganov family of merchants in the late 16th and 17th century.

"Stroganov School" owes its name to frequent mentioning of the Stroganovs on the markings on the back of the icons of Yemelyan Moskvitin, Stefan Pakhirya, Prokopy Chirin, Istoma, Nazariy, and Nikifor Saviny. Most of these icon painters, however, did not belong to the Stroganov School. They were icon painters from Moscow and executed commissions by the tsar. Many of their works were eventually acquired by the Stroganovs, who had been known as connoisseurs of sophisticated craftsmanship. 

The works of art of the Stroganov School have quite a few features in common, such as small size, diminutiveness, refined palette, density of paint layers, graphic precision of details, fragile characters' postures and gestures, richness of their vestments, and complicated landscape background. More on the Stroganov School

The 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia refers to victims of persecution of Christians in Nicomedia, Bithynia (modern Izmit, Turkey) by the Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian in the early 4th century AD.

At this time the bishop of the city of Nicomedia was Saint Cyril, whose preaching had greatly contributed to the spread of the Gospel.

Haround Binous

Emperor Diocletian
Facial Reconstruction

I have no further description, at this time

Haround Binous

Emperor Maximian (284-305)
Facial Reconstruction

I have no further description, at this time

At the turn of the fourth century, the Roman emperor Maximian (284-305) was growing increasingly angry over the spread of Christianity throughout the Empire. Even members of his court had been revealed as secret Christians.

Unknown artist

The church burned in Nicomedia, c. 985

Illustration

Constantinople. 985. Miniature Minology of Vasily II.

Vatican Library, Rome

According to various martyrologies and menologies, the persecution included the burning of a church that held numerous Christians on Christmas Day.

Unknown artist

Triumph of Maximian

Triumph of Titus

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

I have no further description, at this time

This event took place when the emperor Maximian (284-305) returned with victory over Ethiopians in 304 AD. It happened after they had refused to sacrifice to idols during Christmas Mass in order to thank gods for the victory he had acquired. 

Unknown artist

Glycerius of Nicomedia

 Miniature Minology of Vasily II. Constantinople, c. 985

Vatican Library, Rome

Later Maximian and his soldiers entered the church and told the Christians they could escape punishment if they renounced Christ. The Christian priest Glycerius answered that the Christians would never "renounce their faith, even under the threat of torture". 

Unknown artist

The 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia

Mural of the 16th century AD.

Holy Monastery of Dionysiou. Mount Athos

Maximian ordered him to be burned to death. Those who had not been burned in the church were captured and tortured to death. The bishop Anthimos who had escaped burning in the church was captured and beheaded.

Unknown artist

Bishop Anthimos was beheaded

Miniature Minology of Vasily II. Constantinople, c. 985

Vatican Library, Rome

The number 20,000 may be apocryphal. However, the martyrs of Nicomedia continue to be honored with feast days: they are commemorated on 28 December in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and by the Byzantine Catholic Churches. In the Roman Martyrology of the Roman Catholic Church, there are separate entries for groups of martyrs of Nicomedia. The martyrdom of Anthimus of Nicomedia and companions is commemorated on 24 April and "the commemoration of many holy martyrs of Nicomedia" on June 23. More on The 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, 365 Saints, 365 Days, and Biblical Icons, also visit my Boards on Pinterest and my art stores at  deviantart and Aaroko

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

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09 works, Today, December 25th, is Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar's day, their story, illustrated #357

Andrea Mantegna, (1431–1506)

The Adoration of the Magi, c. between 1495 and 1505

Oil on canvas

Height: 486 mm (19.1 in); Width: 656 mm (25.8 in)

J. Paul Getty Museum,   Los Angeles, California

Andrea Mantegna ( c. 1431 – September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order to create a sense of greater monumentality. His flinty, metallic landscapes and somewhat stony figures give evidence of a fundamentally sculptural approach to painting. He also led a workshop that was the leading producer of prints in Venice before 1500. More on Andrea Mantegna

Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar were distinguished foreigners in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition.

Sir Peter Paul Rubens 

Melchior, The Assyrian King, c. 1618

Oil on panel transferred to canvas

66.8 x 51.5 cm (26 5/16 x 20 1/4 in.)

 National Gallery of Art, Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Sir Peter Paul Rubens (28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish Baroque painter. A proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, Rubens is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.

In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England.  More Sir Peter Paul Rubens

Melchior, often referred to as the oldest member of the Magi, was traditionally called the King of Persia and brought the gift of gold to Jesus.

Geertgen tot Sint Jans, (circa 1460 –circa 1488 )

Gaspar was a king of Persia

Detail; The three magi, circa 1480-1485

Oil on oak wood

Height: 91.6 cm (36 in); Width: 71.8 cm (28.2 in)

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1465 – c. 1495), also known as Geertgen van Haarlem, Gerrit van Haarlem, Gerrit Gerritsz, Gheertgen, Geerrit, Gheerrit, or any other diminutive form of Gerald, was an Early Netherlandish painter from the northern Low Countries in the Holy Roman Empire. No contemporary documentation of his life has been traced, and the earliest published account of his life and work is from 1604, in Karel van Mander's Schilder-boeck.

According to van Mander, Geertgen was probably a pupil of Albert van Ouwater, one of the first oil painters in the northern Low Countries. Both painters lived in the city of Haarlem, where Geertgen was attached to the house of the Knights of Saint John, perhaps as a lay brother, for whom he painted an altarpiece. In van Mander's book he states that Geertgen took the name of St. John without joining the order, thus his last name "tot Sint Jans" was derived from the order's name and means "unto Saint John". More on Geertgen tot Sint Jans

Gaspar was a king of India. Some consider Caspar to be King Gondophares (AD 21 – c. AD 47).

Gondophares I was the founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom and its most prominent king, ruling from 19 to 46. A member of the House of Suren, he belonged to a line of local princes who had governed the Parthian province of Drangiana since its disruption by the Indo-Scythians in c. 129 BC. More on King Gondophares

Girolamo da Santacroce, (1480–1556)

Balthasar

Detail; The Adoration of the Three Kings, c. between circa 1525 and circa 1530 

Oil on panel

H : 26 5/8 x W: 31 15/16 x D: 5/16 in. (67.7 x 81.2 x 0.8 cm)

Walters Art Museum,  Baltimore, Maryland

Girolamo da Santacroce (c. 1480/85 – c. 1556) was a 16th-century Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Venice and the Venetian mainland

da Santacroce was born in Bergamo. He became a pupil of the painter Gentile Bellini. On Gentile's death in 1507, he was left in Gentile's will half of the Oriental drawings made be Gentile. Santacroce then most likely worked as an assistant in the workshops of Giovanni Bellini and Cima da Conegliano.

He was a prolific artist and many of his works are signed and dated. He produced many copies after the works of the leading Venetian masters. His work shows the influence of Titian and Palma Vecchio. More on Girolamo da Santacroce

Balthasar, originally called Bithisarea, was the King of Macedonia. Balthazar followed the Star of Bethlehem first to the palace of Herod the Great.

Cornelis Massijs, (–1580)

Arrival of the Holy Family in Bethlehem, c. 1543

Oil on oak wood

Height: 27 cm (10.6 in); Width: 38 cm (14.9 in)

Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany

Cornelis Massijs (1508, Antwerp – c. 1556, unknown), was a Flemish Renaissance painter, draughtsman and engraver, mainly known for his landscapes and, to a lesser extent, genre scenes and portraits. He is regarded as an important figure in the transition from the fantastic landscapes of Joachim Patinir to the 'pure landscapes' of later Netherlandish landscape painting.

He was the son of leading Antwerp painter Quinten Matsys and the younger brother of Jan, who also became a prominent painter. He trained under his father. He was admitted together with his brother Jan, as a master in the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1531, a year after his father's death. In 1544 the brothers were forced to leave Antwerp because of their religious beliefs. Where Cornelis went and whether he ever returned to Antwerp is unknown. There is speculation that Cornelis travelled to England and later to Germany and Italy, but there is no conclusive proof for this. More on Cornelis Massijs

Gerard van Honthorst, (1592–1656)

The Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1622

Medium oil on canvas

Height: 164 cm (64.5 in); Width: 190 cm (74.8 in)

Wallraf–Richartz Museum, Cologne, Germany

Gerard van Honthorst (4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch Golden Age painter who became especially noted for his depiction of artificially lit scenes. Early in his career he visited Rome, where he had great success painting in a style influenced by Caravaggio. Following his return to the Netherlands he became a leading portrait painter. More on Gerard van Honthorst

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." 

Jacques Joseph Tissot, (1836–1902)

The Magi Journeying, c. between 1886 and 1894

Gouache over graphite on gray wove paper

Height: 20.2 cm (7.9 in); Width: 29.2 cm (11.4 in)

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York

For information on Jacques Joseph Tissot, see below

When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" 

Jacques Joseph Tissot 

The Magi in the House of Herod, c. 1886-1894

Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper

5 3/8 x 6 3/8 in. (13.7 x 16.2 cm)

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York

Jacques Joseph Tissot (15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), Anglicized as James Tissot, was a French painter and illustrator. He was a successful painter of Paris society before moving to London in 1871. He became famous as a genre painter of fashionably dressed women shown in various scenes of everyday life. He also painted scenes and characters from the Bible. More on James Tissot

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 

El Greco, (1541–1614)

Adoration of the Magi, between 1568 and 1569

Oil on panel

Height: 42.8 cm (16.8 in); Width: 51 cm (20 in)

Museo Soumaya at Plaza Carso, Mexico City

Doménikos Theotokópoulos (1541 – 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco; Spanish for "The Greek", was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. The nickname "El Greco" refers both to his Greek origin and Spanish citizenship. The artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters.

 

El Greco was born in Crete, which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice, and the center of Post-Byzantine art. He trained and became a master within that tradition before traveling at age 26 to Venice, as other Greek artists had done. In 1570 he moved to Rome, where he opened a workshop and executed a series of works. During his stay in Italy, El Greco enriched his style with elements of Mannerism and of the Venetian Renaissance. In 1577, he moved to Toledo, Spain, where he lived and worked until his death. In Toledo, El Greco received several major commissions and produced his best-known paintings.

 

El Greco's dramatic and expressionistic style was met with puzzlement by his contemporaries but found appreciation in the 20th century. El Greco is regarded as a precursor of both Expressionism and Cubism, while his personality and works were a source of inspiration for poets and writers. El Greco has been characterized by modern scholars as an artist so individual that he belongs to no conventional school. He is best known for tortuously elongated figures and often fantastic or phantasmagorical pigmentation, marrying Byzantine traditions with those of Western painting. More on El Greco

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. More on Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthasar

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