Gentile da Fabriano and another reflector of Scripture and historical events can be said to be the "inspirators" of this reflection on the Feast of the Epiphany. Artists have a unique gift of inspiration. Their works often come from a personal experience of nature, humanity or God himself. Fabriano is known for his painting, Adoration of the Magi.
(Gentile da Fabriano, Completed 1423)
In the painting, each of the three Magi seems to reflect a different stage in the personal development one experiences in his/her journey of faith. While the event depicted and the century when the artist completed this masterpiece are far from our own times, both speak to us about our own journey of faith in this 21st century. It does not matter that we do not have much historical knowledge about them. It does not matter that the Christian tradition made them kings, gave them their names or that it was later, under the spiritual guidance of St. Thomas the Apostle, that they accepted faith in Jesus Christ. What does matter is this: these men play a significant role in Jesus' revealing himself to others after his birth.
Notice the difference in the artistic rendition of each of the magi: each seems to represent a different age bracket and thus, for the artist, a different experience of faith. What is certain is that we do not know whether it was a wisdom that leads people to unique faith experiences or daring that leads individuals on challenge-filled journeys that brought the magi to the Child Jesus. This blogger, however, does believe that the artist has presented us with material for the consideration of our relationship to the birth of Jesus and the importance of this event in our faith journey.
Look at the oldest magi. Kneeling and bent in adoration of the child, it seems this magi sees the hope of the future not so much in the realities of the world, like astrology or magic but in this young child. The middle magi, depicted as removing his crown but not near to the child, may well be a manifestation of the typical middle-age questioning. Perhaps he is confused because this child and his mother are not the royalty he expected the long-awaited savior to be. Could this be a mistake on their part, following what they thought was the right star? Could they have misinterpreted older texts that they had studied? Fabriano's third magi, is much younger looking. He stands back gazing, wondering. Surely he does not seem to be convinced. It is almost as if this man does not see this child as having the answers they sought. He would be, at least for Fabriano, the one who would say more could come from magic and astrology.
Today, some 2000+ years after the event and 600 years after the painting, we might gain something from the artist's inspiration. Some theologians see in this painting a representation of three different responses to what the Nativity of Jesus is based on, what we would call youth, middle-age or senior years. Perhaps we can see the stages of our own personal spiritual growth. Perhaps these three magi truly represent the life-long journey of faith.
If such should be the case, then this feast day is one that we should recall more often that during the Christmas season. Indeed, for all of us, this is a wonderful lesson in coming to know ourselves better. It could easily be a daily reminder to us to examine our relationship to who Jesus is in our lives.
May this feast day celebration be an occasion of your opening your heart and soul to the revelation to you of the Child Jesus, the Son of God, the Jesus we celebrate in liturgy and the same Jesus we take into our own bodies through the gift of the Eucharist.
