Bruegel painted the Adoration of the Christ child by the Three Kings or Magi three times; none of the works reveals the splendour and idealization considered appropriate in Catholic circles. The earliest painting, The Adoration of the Kings (between 1556 and 1562), which is in a poor state of preservation, is characterized by a large crowd of Netherlands and Middle Eastern people, the last, The Adoration of the Kings in the Snow (1567), by a natural event, namely by falling snow. This last version is also the boldest, the religious scene almost disappearing, integrated like some everyday occurrence into the life of a wintertime village.