22. St. Peter and Paul Church, East Harling, East window, Adoration
of the Magi, 1480.
Juxtaposed to the preceding window, the Adoration of the Magi is
much like the previous adoration - reversed. The baby Jesus is poised
upon the Virgin’s lap in the same standing position, only here the admirers
are grouped on the left side, and mother and child are on the right; the
opposite is true in the Adoration of the Magi. One constant, however,
is the dramatic attention focused on the child, a child that Anne Harling
was never to bear. The kings show the expected contrast of youth,
maturity and age, bearing the symbolic gifts listed in Matthew 2:11:
gold (kingship), frankincense (divinity), myrrh (mortality). The
infant stands upon his mother’s lap as the eldest of the three kings, kneeling
before him in admiration, offers up a cup of coins marked with crosses.
The other two kings await their turns in the background; one holds an incense
boat and the other has a cup with a pyramidal cover. Notice that the face
of the Blessed Virgin is different than that of the other scenes.
Her head has been lost and appropriately replaced with that of an angel’s.