Hieronymus Bosch (Jeroen van Aken, ca 1450-1516), Adoration of the Magi (before 1500), triptych, oil on wood.
Prado Museum, Madrid.

The inner wings of the triptych are occupied by the kneeling figures of the donors, a man and a woman, attended by their patron saints Peter and Agnes.

The central panel shows in the foreground the adoration of the Christ Child by the Three Kings. Housed in a ruined stable, the Infant Christ sits solemnly enthroned on his mother’s lap, while the Magi, sumptuously dressed, approach with all the gravity of priests in a religious ceremony. A group of peasants have gathered around the stable on the right, their nonchalance contrasting strongly with the dignified bearing of the Magi. They peer from behind the wall with lively curiosity and scramble up to the roof in order to get a better view of the exotic strangers.

The most curious figure in the painting is the man standing just inside the stable behind the Magi. (See closer next picture.) Naked except for a thin shirt and a crimson robe gathered around his loins and outrageously displaying his right leg, naked except for a transparent cylinder above the ankle, this bearded figure wears a turban-like headdress and a gold bracelet around one arm. Having furtively got hold of the helmet of the king nearest to him, the man regards the Christ Child with an ambiguous smile, but the faces of his companions behind him appear distinctly hostile. One interpretation of the presence of the ill-intentioned intruder and his companions is to identify them as Herod and his spies. Another interpretation is the group representing the Antichrist and his counsellors. Surprisingly and in contrast with his collar, decorated with the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon, the second king’s helmet, which the intruder holds in his hand, is decorated with demons and so is the robe of the Moorish king, which may possibly refer to the pagan past of the Magi.