“The Adoration of the Magi” (late 1750s) by Italian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It depicts the Nativity scene in which wise men and shepherds come to pay respects and offer gifts to the newborn baby. Many of the characters in the painting have their heads angled towards the ground, as if in reverence and subordination. I chose this painting not only because of its connection to Christianity but because of its depiction of salvation via a small, pale, delicate, and vulnerable being. In many ways, Eva reflects the qualities of baby Jesus. In turn, the wise men and shepherds there to witness the child imitate Topsy as she asks if she is deserving of love–as she feels unworthy of fully possessing it. Topsy tells Eva all of the reasons why she feels she is not worth love, to which Eva responds, “O, Topsy, poor child, I love you” (268). Similarly, although Eva is not very old in this scene, she has this sense of unmatched moral authority, thus like Jesus, she wields immense power despite her age and physical condition.
