''Adoration of the Magi'' is a 1504 fresco by

Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. Ea ...

in the Oratorio di Santa Maria dei Bianchi in

Città della Pieve Città della Pieve is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located in Valdichiana a few kilometres from the border between Umbria and Tuscany, and about southwest of Perugia and southeast of Chius ...

. It shows the

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

, with an idealised view from Città della Pieve towards Lake Trasimene and

Val di Chiana The Val di Chiana, Valdichiana, or Chiana Valley is an alluvial valley of central Italy, lying on the territories of the provinces of Arezzo and Siena in Tuscany and the provinces of Perugia and Terni in Umbria. Geography The Val di Chiana is ...

in the background. It is often compared to the ''Adoration of the Magi'' in the Sala delle Udienze del Collegio del Cambio in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

by Perugino and his studio, which includes areas argued by some art historians to have been painted by a young

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...

. It was commissioned from him that year by the 'Sindaco della Compagnia dei Disciplanti' - the date is shown by two letters sculpted along the same wall by the artist and uncovered during works to improve the wall's drainage in 1835. Perugino demanded 200 florins for the work but was willing "as a fellow citizen" to be content with 100 in installments. After several interventions by the Sindaco, he reduced the price to 25 florins but in return demanded to be granted the "dignity of a great Master". The work was restored in 1984.

Bibliography

* Vittoria Garibaldi, ''Perugino'', in ''Pittori del Rinascimento'', Scala, Florence, 2004

External links

Page on cittadellapieve.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adoration of the Magi Paintings by Pietro Perugino category:1504 paintings

category:Fresco paintings in Umbria