Journey of the Magi
James Tissot·1894
Historical Context
Journey of the Magi of 1894, at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, belongs to Tissot's extraordinary illustrated Life of Christ project, the result of his pilgrimage to Palestine in 1886 and his immersion in the documentary sources of the New Testament world. After the spiritual crisis that followed Kathleen Newton's death, Tissot undertook to illustrate the complete life of Jesus with the same archaeological and geographical rigour he had brought to his secular social paintings. The Magi's journey from the East was a subject with deep traditions in Western art, but Tissot approached it fresh from Palestine and from study of the Near Eastern landscape and people he had encountered there. The Minneapolis Institute holds several important works from the Life of Christ series.
Technical Analysis
Gouache on cardboard, the work uses the dramatic landscape of the Near East to frame the Magi's journey. Tissot's palette in the biblical series tends toward warm earthy tones that convey the quality of Middle Eastern light and landscape. The procession of the Magi — figures, animals, retinue — is composed with careful attention to movement across terrain.
Look Closer
- ◆The landscape is specifically Near Eastern rather than conventionally European — Tissot paints terrain he had actually observed in Palestine.
- ◆The Magi are given specific individual identities rather than being generic 'wise men' — each figure carries its own character.
- ◆The star guiding the procession, if depicted, would be integrated into the actual night sky rather than rendered as a supernatural symbol.
- ◆The retinue and animals of the journey give the scene its physical specificity — this is a real journey, not a ceremonial procession.
