Mezhdu Hristom i Antihristom: «Poklonenie volhvov» Ieronima Boskha
Mihail Majzul's
Since the Middle Ages, thousands of images of the gospel scene have come down to us, where three wise men bring gifts to the newborn Jesus. Among ivory reliefs, book miniatures, mosaics, frescoes, altar panels and stained glass windows, one image stands out that has long intrigued historians - the Adoration of the Magi triptych by Hieronymus Bosch. It contains many iconographic "anomalies". Who is the bearded man standing at the door of the hut? His red cloak is thrown over his naked body, a turban entwined with thorns is on his head, and his ankle is enclosed in a glass vessel through which a bleeding wound can be seen. Why are sirens and fish devouring each other written on the clothes of the black sorcerer and his servant? In the West, the three "kings" who came to Bethlehem were revered as saints, and these details do not fit well with righteousness. To decipher Bosch's message, medievalist historian Mikhail Maizuls turns to medieval demonology, anti-Jewish controversy, astrological theories and apocalyptic myths about the end times and the Antichrist.
