"Triptych of Adoration of the Magi"

The central group of the Virgin, Child, and kneeling king follow earlier artists' precedent very closely, Memling’s work shows variations in the rest of the triptych.  Instead of  Annunciation in the left wing he places a Nativity scene, thereby shifting the thematic focus from Mary’s role toward that of the Christ Child. Memling also introduced Gothic architecture in the right wing, rather than the Romanesque building style, which underscores the transition from the Old to the New Church initiated by Christ’s birth.

It was innovative of Memling to show both the exterior and interior of the temple in which Christ is presented, in his middle and right panels. Here, two different views of the same structure are presented in the left and center panels: the Nativity in the left wing is framed by and viewed through one of the round-arch windows seen in the background of the center panel, as if the whole building had been turned ninety degrees counterclockwise from one scene to the next. 

Memling’s portrayal of one of the Magi as a Black man drew on a practice that had only recently begun to emerge, particularly in art from the region around Cologne, where Memling is likely to have trained. The Prado triptych thus helped solidify this practice in Netherlandish and later art.